The Grown Up Tales of Blossom and Alexander
by Jayne1955
Summary: Blossom Culp and Alexander Armsworth have been through a lot of adventures together, but will they go on together now that they are growing up?
1. Chapter 1

Chapter One: Blossom Begins

Some day someone may wonder why things happened the way they did, and I think it's time Alexander and I left a record for those folks who will follow. This is that record. It all starts out when I came to Bluff City. When Mama and I first moved from Sikeston, Missouri to Bluff City, Illinois, I was just about to start the fourth grade. I was much too young to pay attention to boys, but that didn't stop me from noticing Alexander Armsworth.

He was literally from the other side of the tracks. Mama and I had moved into one of the old shacks on the far side of the streetcar tracks, where the workers at the old flour mill used to live. The place was pretty sorry, but being abandoned, the price was right. Mama and I never did have much ready cash. Alexander lived on the high side of the tracks. The Armsworth barn was between our place and his. His house was the third largest house in Bluff City, and quite a showplace, with three-quarters of an acre of yard, and three huge flowerbeds bordered in shells. Alexander wasn't bad looking, either, even as a kid. He had curly blonde hair, and the clearest blue eyes I'd ever seen.

I had a hard time settling into school. For one thing I had frizzy hair, and tacky clothes. The wind blew against girls like me for the most part. The daughters of the prosperous shopkeepers ruled the roost, wearing their fancy dresses and taffeta hair bows as badges of honor. Before I had the class system completely figured out, I crossed a few of the girls who had more advantages than I did, and they never did let me forget it. It don't take a very big person to carry a grudge. Letty Shambaugh, Nola Nirider and Ione Williams gave me an especially hard time, but I tried not to let them get me down. As for school itself, though, I did very well in that department. I had plenty of time to myself, what with Mama being off on her own a lot, and my Paw being a traveling man. He traveled so much I didn't see him for years at a time.

With all of that time on my hands, I applied myself to my schoolwork, and became the best speller in the whole class, among other things. When I was in fifth grade, I offered to let Alexander have the medal I'd won in the spelling bee, if he'd walk me home, but he didn't bite. He was nowhere near ready for girls, anymore than I was ready for boys, but I kept my eye on him, none the same. If you're on a diet, you can still look at the menu.

Alexander and I really got started in seventh grade. Mama is a sensitive, and she noticed that there was an aura around the Armsworth barn, indicating that it was haunted. I decided to let Alexander know his barn was concealing a lost spirit, and used a fire drill at Horace Mann School to get my point across. When we were lining up to go down the fire escape chute, I made sure I was in front of Alexander. When I got into the tube, I wedged myself in tight, and waited. He came sliding down, and like to knocked my head off with his hobnail boots. Being a considerate fellow as boys go, he jammed himself up as well, right on top of me.

Alexander had his hands on me where I'd never been handled by a boy before, and I had to admit to myself that I liked it. His mind wasn't on it, though, and I had to quickly state my business before the fire escape got backed up clear to our teacher, Miss Winkler. That time I did get him to walk me home, even though he made me meet him two blocks from school.

Alexander didn't know a thing about the spirit world, but he caught on quickly. He and I were both unique in Bluff City, as we were both sensitive to the other side, and have even been known to slip through time on occasion. We got that ghost in the barn settled into a peaceful grave, with the help of Alexander's great-uncle Miles, who was a true gentleman, even though he was bit rough around the edges. We even got a trip to New Orleans out of the deal, which is where Alexander began to see my possibilities, even if he wasn't willing to admit that at the time.

We even helped Alexander's big sister, Lucille, get out of the clutches of a playboy named Tom Hackett, and into the arms of her future husband, Lowell Seaforth. Lowell is now the editor of the Pantagraph newspaper, and I had a lot to do with that.

Several months after we came back from New Orleans, Miles Armsworth passed on. He left Alexander even more money than the Armsworth family had to begin with, and Alexander and I drifted apart. An eccentric spinster in town, Miss Gertude Dabney, got us back together, so to speak. She had a ghost in her kitchen, and used Alexander and me to settle Minerva down, since we were old hands at dealing with the spirit world by then. Minerva wasn't the type of ghost to ever rest easy, but we got her into a more amicable arrangement with Miss Dabney at any rate.

Miss Dabney paid us back by helping me settle another ghost, and because of that caper I got to go with Miss Dabney to England, on the Steamship Olympic, no less. Alexander wound up going along, and we had a fine time for the most part.

Miss Dabney had a better one, for she met an old bachelor named W. Atlee Birdsall aboard ship, and they wound up getting married and going to live at his English home. Miss Dabney always did have a hankering for anything English.

Alexander and I still didn't know where we stood with each other, but there wasn't much chance for me to stand very close. When we got to the high school, Letty Shambaugh set her sights on Alexander. At first glance, this might have seemed like a good match, as Letty is every bit as good looking as Alexander, with quite similar blonde curls, only longer, of course, and she was also one of the richest kids in town. Alexander's pa is a builder, and has put up half of the town, and Letty's pa owns the Select Dry Goods Company, so they were at least equally well off.

Letty never really understood Alexander, but he was too dense to see she just wanted him for a prop. He started taking Letty to the picture shows, and came close to pinning her with his fraternity pin. Those were dark times for me, but I managed to expose Letty for what she was, and become the best history student in the freshman class besides, thanks to the help I got from Miss Fairweather, our history teacher. She always did believe in taking people for their possibilities, and I still had plenty of those.

Alexander began to walk me home from school regularly and to it as well. We were getting closer, and Letty had pretty much written off Alexander as a bad prospect, although a couple of the other girls wouldn't have said no to stepping out with him. Things were looking up. Alexander and I still had our problems, though. Part of that was my fault.

That was the year I became a woman, and I tended to get a bit cranky at times. Over Christmas break I had other things to be cranky about. Mama and I were scraping the bottom of the barrel, and what with the holiday from school and all, I couldn't even buy a cup of milk for a nickel in the cafeteria to get me through the day. When school started up again, and I met Alexander by his barn to head back, I was purt near starved, which never helps my disposition.

My stomach was growling so loudly even Alexander noticed it.

"Good grief, Blossom! Didn't you have time for breakfast?" Alexander asked me when he heard it.

"Time wasn't the problem, Alexander. We don't all have the advantages you do."

I would never have admitted that normally, but like I told you, I was feeling peevish. His face went gentle, and I'm a sucker for Alexander when he's being sweet, even when I'm in a peevish state.

"Blossom, why don't you come over a few minutes earlier in the morning and have breakfast with us? Ma and Dad wouldn't mind. They know you've been helping me with my schoolwork. They'd think it was a fair trade. They know perfectly well I got that good mark in history last term because of the project you and I did on Egypt."

"I'm not about to become your ma's latest charity case," I said, sounding meaner than I felt. I knew that Alexander would have been the class dunce in Miss Fairweather's class if he hadn't of teamed up with me on that report.

"She's not like that, Blossom. You're all right in her books, and besides, I'm not asking you because of my mother. I'm asking you because I don't want to see you getting run down and sick. If that happened, I couldn't spend time with you, and I'd miss it."

That was the closest thing I'd ever come to having a declaration of his feelings from Alexander, and I decided not to let the opportunity go to waste. "All right, Alexander. I'll come, IF you promise me we'll talk about school. And you have to make sure your folks don't really mind. I'll wait along side of your front porch tomorrow, and if they aren't 100% behind the idea, you let me know so I can light out."

"Oh, gee whiz!" Alexander sighed, but he took my hand then, and we let the subject drop.

I cleaned myself up as best as I could the next morning, and was by the porch in plenty of time. I could smell bacon frying when Alexander opened the door, and it nearly turned me inside out.

"Did you ask if I could come in?" I demanded.

" 'Course I did!" Alexander answered, looking injured, but natty in one of his argyle patterned sweaters. He led me in, and I was stuck once more by how warm it was and how nice everything looked.

Mrs. Armsworth gave a start, but I could tell it wasn't just to see me in her dining room doorway. She was giving me the once over, checking out my hair, which was calmed down as best as I could make it, and my clothes, which were straight from the rummage sale at the Foursquare Tabernacle. "Why here is Blossom! Do sit down. I want you to tell me all about that project you did on Egypt. Alexander has been sadly remiss when it comes to details, even though he did get an A."

"Yes, Blossom, do tell," said Mr. Armsworth. "An A in history for Alexander must have been no mean trick. He doesn't take to history much as a rule."

Alexander slid a chair out for me, and I was there for the duration. Tomb robbing isn't much of a topic for breakfast conversation, but I managed to do all right. Gladys, the Armsworth's hired hand, kept setting the platters of bacon, toast and eggs, and the orange juice pitcher right in front of my place, and I shot her a grateful look. She knows how my ma and I are fixed, because my ma has worked in the Armsworth's kitchen herself on occasion, and Gladys had undoubtedly figured out what Alexander's motives had been in inviting me. Between helpings, I let slip that we were having a history test on Friday about the Ancient Greeks and Romans.

"You did do your assigned reading over the holiday, didn't you Alexander?" I asked him, sweetly.

Alexander paled, but before his folks could light in on him, I began to summarize that section of the history book. I have a busy memory, and all Alexander had to do was throw in a "yeah," or "that's right!" occasionally to keep the conversation going.

When it was time to go to school, Mr. Armsworth caught Alexander's eye and said with a flourish, "Well, I do hope you can remember all of that, Alexander. Perhaps Blossom could stop in tomorrow and go over it with you again. Two heads are better than one, and by Friday, I think you should both be ready for that test." He nodded to me as he rose. "I have to get to work early, so please excuse me. Brent McCallister is giving me fits this week."

Brent McCallister is the town drunk. I know him well, because he lives in one of the shacks not far from ours. He's not very neighborly, though. Mr. Armsworth has been trying to keep him afloat by letting him mix mortar on his construction sites for a living. Mr. Armsworth has been known to take in a stray or two before my time, but McCallister doesn't always appreciate the effort Alexander's pa is making on his behalf.

Mrs. Armsworth sighed, but decided to let that go and agreed that the way I reviewed the history book was a wonder. When Alexander slunk off to brush his teeth and gather his books, she walked me into the hall. I looked up at her and smiled. "I'd be happy to go on helping Alexander with his schoolwork, Ma'am, and I want to thank you for the breakfast."

"Oh, you're welcome, honey."

My books were in the hall, done up with a strap I'd made from an old belt. As I reached for them, Alexander's ma looked around. "My goodness, Blossom, where did Alexander put your coat?"

"I didn't bring one, Ma'am," I admitted. The fact is my old coat had gotten so tight it would have been a job just to get my arms through the sleeves.

Alexander came thumping down the stairs just in time to hear her tell me, "Blossom, you mustn't be forgetting your coat this time of year! You could catch your death of cold, but it's no use running back for one now. You'll be late." He eyed her with alarm as she pulled open the hall closet.

"Here…you can borrow this one. Lucille wore it when she was at the high school. It's been setting in here for ages. I meant to send it to the rummage sale at the church, but I never got around to it. It'll do for the time being."

Mrs. Armsworth extended the coat, and I hesitated. I have my pride, but she was offering it so clever, that I didn't think I could refuse. Besides, it WAS cold.

"I'm greatly obliged, Mrs. Armsworth. I'll take good care of it" I slipped it on. It had a tad more room in the rear and the bust than I needed, as Lucille had always been a full-figured girl, but it was in tip-top shape, and the sleeves and the length were just right.

Alexander's ma nodded with satisfaction at the sight of me, then said, "Run along, now, or you'll be late."

Mrs. Armsworth got a bit more satisfaction out of that coat then than she expected, because when Alexander told her goodbye he kissed her on the cheek, which is probably something he hadn't done since he was ten. She still had her hand to her cheek in wonder, when Alexander took my hand and we left the house.

So that's how I began spending my mornings at the Armsworth place. I got a square meal out of the deal, and the Armsworths got to hear everything about what was going on at school. I made sure to give Alexander a review of all of the main points of our classes when he needed it.

By Easter time we were the top boy and girl in the freshman class. Alexander became known as the brain of his fraternity, Iota Nu Beta, but the boys did begin to tease him a bit about letting a girl lead him around by the nose, even though they had to concede I could come in useful on occasion. Even the girls had to admit that, much as it hurt them to do so. I had helped the class with various projects and they'd all turned out well. Alexander was ignorant of the girl's opinions, and ignored the taunts from the boys for the most part, but I was getting uneasy about it. Men need friendships with other men. I don't know what causes them, or why they last, but I know they're important.

As I was puzzling this problem out, I at least didn't have to worry about getting in good with Alexander's parents anymore. Mrs. Armsworth has always had strange ideas about class, but since she grew up on a farm, she's no one to put down anyone else for trying to better themselves, and Mr. Armsworth works hard and respects anyone else with grit. I had plenty of that, and a bit of celebrity besides, because of my psychic turns, so they were willing to give me a chance.

When Lucille had a big Christening party for her son, Alexander brought me along as his guest. I didn't see much point in attending except for the eats, because Lucille and I have never been fond of each other, but Alexander dug in his heels. If he was allowed to bring a friend, that friend was going to be me. I was right proud of him.

Lucille and I have locked horns on many occasions, but it didn't matter to me what she thought of me. Every path has some puddles, and when it came to me getting with Alexander, Lucille was mine. I did hear Lucille and her mother talking as they were getting ready to bring out the cake and coffee. Lucille was wondering if things were serious between me and Alexander and how her folks felt about it.

"I know Blossom and Alexander have been sweet on each other for a long time," Lucille commented, "but I still think Blossom is the type to take liberties if she gets half a chance."

"Oh, Blossom is all right," said Mrs. Armsworth. "Her mother is still a handful, but we don't have to socialize with her. At least Blossom pays attention to her schoolwork. Alexander needed a good example when it came to being studious. It's made a world of difference since Blossom's been steering him along."

Her faith in me paid off. Mrs. Armsworth nearly cried when Alexander got his report card. She raised Alexander's allowance, which is money he gets for being her son, and he took me to the moving pictures to celebrate.

We hadn't mentioned moving pictures since the fall, when I'd broken up a date between him and Letty. We didn't dredge up old history now. The film was "The Spoilers" starring William Farnum and we had just settled into our seats, and I was giving Alexander a few pointers on the Alaskan gold rush, hoping he'd be able to understand it, when we both got a shock. Letty herself was sneaking into the Bijou, just as the lights went down, and she was with Les Dawson.

If Mrs. Shambaugh could have seen them she would have whipped the lace off Letty's petticoats. Les was of an even lower class than I was, because he wasn't just poor, he was stupid. He'd been left back in school several times, and finally thrown out in when the rest of us were in eighth grade, for beating on Letty of all things. I knew this for a fact, because he'd nearly strangled me that same day. Mrs. Shambaugh couldn't stand Les Dawson.

I couldn't tell if Letty had seen us, but Alexander had sure seen her. He slipped his arm around my shoulder and pulled me close to whisper in my ear. "If that don't beat all!"

I leaned my head against his, and whispered back. "Jealous, are you?"

Alexander flinched. "Not likely!" Then he realized I was teasing him, and a slow grin spread over his face. "Hey!" he said. "Hey!" and he leaned over and kissed me. His mouth was warm, his lips were soft and he even smelled good. He made my head spin.

The movie started, and he turned away, but he kept his arm around me. I stared at the screen, but I was the one who didn't understand a thing that I saw. It took me all seven reels of the film to come to terms with this new development. Alexander had kissed me! I had kissed him once, at his sister's coming out party, for doing me a favor, and he'd kissed me once at school, but that time he'd been tricked into it. He'd counted that as part of his fraternity initiation. This time he'd done it on his own, without anyone saying a word to him.

That's how it all really started.

When we left the show, we didn't see Les or Letty, but there was so much commotion going on it would have been easy to miss them. Mr. Franklin, the owner of the place was hollering "Good riddance!" at his ticket girl, as she marched out, head held high.

"What's the matter, Mr. Franklin?" I inquired.

"I ain't got but two ticket girls and one of them has just left me in the lurch, that's what! She's running off to Bloomington to git married. Iffen I work my other girl every single night, she'll be quitting on me, too. I am fixed now!"

I got an inspiration, then. "Mr. Franklin, my name is Blossom Culp, and I could sure use a job. I know I could sell tickets. I know my arithmetic up and down. You can ask any of the teachers at the high school. Can't I come and sell tickets for you?"

He looked at me, and at Alexander, who was standing open-mouthed. With Lucille's old coat on, I was looking pretty presentable, and it was obvious if I was keeping company with Alexander, I must be pretty sharp. The Armsworth name was still good for something in Bluff City.

Mr. Franklin allowed he might as well give me a try, and we shook on it.

As we left the place, Alexander shook his head. "Blossom, you sure do beat all. Whatever gave you the notion to sell tickets?"

"I believe in taking an opportunity when I see it, Alexander. It can't be too hard."

"Yeah, but if you're selling tickets, when are you going to have time for me?" 

"I'll always make time for you, Alexander, but now you'll have time to help your pa more. You've been leaving him hanging, and the building season's starting to go great guns. You'll have more time for that fraternity of yours, too, and for hanging out with your fool friends. I know for a fact that you've been missing your fraternity meetings, and they have commented on the fact that you're spending too much time with me. It won't do for the fellers to think I've got you whipped. You're too well bred for it, and it doesn't suit either of us."

Alexander had to agree to that, and took me to Hackett's Drugstore for a milkshake to celebrate my new job. He also started spending more time at his father's office on Eldorado Street, and more time out on Armsworth Construction Company building sites learning the business from the ground up.

Selling tickets a couple of nights a week was just as easy as I thought it would be. The only time I really had to keep on my toes was when the place opened up. Once the show started, I never had more than a few stragglers. I used to bring my books and get my reading done for school in between shows. My cash drawer was always right on the money, and Mr. Franklin was pleased as punch. He paid me every week, and the money came in handy. I got fifty cents a night, which was good pay for a girl my age at that time. I bought something for myself every week. Sometimes it was a shirtwaist, or stockings, or some school supplies. It was always a treat to have something new for a change. I didn't even have to give my hard-earned cash to the Shambaughs, as a new dry goods store had opened up on the south end of town, near the two new streets Alexander's pa had put in the year before. Granger's Emporium was giving the Select Dry Goods Company a run for their money, and I was glad to do my share to help make the race interesting.

I also made sure we had a bit of food in the house to keep my mama going and out of my hair. When Alexander and I went to the pictures now, we got in for free, and that made him the envy of his friends. I was a respectable working woman. Even the Armsworths commented on what an enterprising girl I was. Mr. Armsworth, as I've said before, believes in a day's work for a day's pay, and always has.

I'd gotten myself a paying job, and I'd squared myself away with Mrs. And Mrs. Armsworth, but I didn't know how to put it to my mama that Alexander and I were keeping steady company. It turned out I didn't have to. I came in from school one afternoon after a quick bit of shopping, to find her laying out her cards, and wearing the velveteen shawl with the gold fringe she puts on when she wants to look mysterious. Mama is a first class fortune teller. It's one of the things she does to make a few bits. She hardly ever reads her own cards, though, and as she didn't have a client handy, I figured she must be poking into my future.

"You been with that kid from the house again," Mama stated.

That didn't take any cards to figure out. I decided she must have seen Alexander kissing me goodbye behind the barn, which is something that was happening on a regular basis now, and it was no use denying it. "He has a name, Mama. His name is Alexander."

"Everything in this world has a name. That don't mean nothing." Her black eyes looked straight into mine.

"No, but it would be nice if you'd use it. His name is Alexander Armsworth and he's a decent boy. He's sweet as can be, and he's fun to be with, and he likes me. Don't be surprised if he takes over his pa's construction business someday."

Mama looked down at her cards. "He'll get you in trouble."

"Mama! Alexander is a perfect gentleman!"

"That'll pass. He'll get you in trouble, but it'll be just as much your fault as it is his. It's your gypsy blood. Some fires is too hot to cool, but I won't be here to see it. Thank the Lord!"

That made me wonder if Mama was really using her second sight or just snooping. "I expect you'll be around for a long time, Mama, so it's no use worrying about it now."

"Not as long as you think." She swept up the cards. Mama can shuffle in the air, and she did so with a flourish, just to put me in my place. "Still," she added, "he's loyal to a fault. I'll give him that. "

"Miss Letty Shambaugh doesn't think so. She thinks he's a faithless worm. She was after him, but he got rid of her right quick." I set down my books, and took out my packages from the stores.

"That girl will come to a bad end…worse than you. She's too high and mighty for her own good, and she's doing to have a downfall. Then when she makes her choice, it won't last. I see Mr. Death staring her in the face."

This troubled me, because I had some idea of what was in store for Letty. A lot of things I'd heard in the past about the future were starting to make more sense. "How you do run on, Mama," I said coolly. "I stopped at the bakery and got a nice loaf of bread, and I got ten cents worth of ground round steak at the butcher's. Want some?"

Mama made short work of that food. She tore a quarter of the loaf off, saving the rest of the bread for the next day. She poured boiling water from the kettle over the bread and mixed it with the chopped meat. She added a little salt and a bit of chopped onion and parsley and fried it up into meatballs, which we ate with hot ketchup. Mama didn't mention Alexander anymore after that. She couldn't talk with her mouth full, which was a very good thing.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter Two: Alexander tells His Side of the Story

I knew I should never have let Blossom write the first chapter. This story needs to be told, and that much is the truth, but Blossom has a tendency to exaggerate. She's basically honest, but that doesn't mean she pushes the truth too hard.

For one thing, I was never as sweet on Letty Shambaugh as she was on me. I could never let completely go of the fact that her mother had been so hard on mine. My mother has always had a keen desire to take what she considers her rightful place among the social circles of Bluff City, and Mrs. Shambaugh liked nothing better than to freeze her out. Mrs. Shambaugh is the leader of most of the women's clubs in town, and she has blackballed my mother something fierce. That's why I was always so pleased that Blossom, Uncle Miles, and my barnyard ghost had gotten my mother friendly with Mrs. Van Deeter. Mrs. Van Deeter is true aristocracy as far as Bluff City goes. She makes her own decisions and as far as Mrs. Shambaugh goes, Mrs. Van Deeter has never let Mrs. Shambaugh buffalo her, so my ma did have some friends that she could depend on after that.

Another thing about Letty that always stuck in my craw was the fact that she was so keen on showing off the Shambaugh money. Granted, they have plenty, but the fact that the Select Dry Goods Company had made Letty so rich was none of her doing. My folks are well to do as far as Bluff City goes, but I knew that was because of my dad's hard work. I knew it because he never let me rest on his laurels. He had me helping out from the time I could walk, and believe me I got the message. My dad had earned everything he got, and I wasn't about to forget it, never mind lord it over anyone else. Blossom never did have much, but she made up for her lack of monetary advantages with a keen mind and a good heart. That goes a lot farther than anyone's money.

For a long time, I did want to keep it under wraps that I had the power to reach the other side. It doesn't do to be different at that age, and even though Blossom was willing to present herself for what she was, I was still a little leery of the whole situation. By the time I'd seen a couple of spirits, though, I had to concede that Blossom and I were connected by fate, and you don't mess with fate. At times it didn't seem fair. I wanted to sow my wild oats like everyone else, but I finally conceded that I had to keep myself together for what lay ahead.

It was easy enough at first. Through the end of our freshman year, we concentrated on our schoolwork. Thanks to Blossom I had top grades for the first time in my life. That summer and into the fall, between me helping my dad and Blossom working for Mr. Franklin and helping her ma tend their garden, we didn't see each other much. It couldn't be helped. My dad had always been against me joining up with him at work, but he began to see that I was getting a good head on my shoulders for dealing with clients and handling the crews out on the construction sites. I'd always favored my dad more than my mother. Blossom is an independent sort, and it did her good to be making some money of her own, although she's always had a knack for coming up with a little extra cash when it was needed. Things weren't that different for us at first. It was our sophomore year that things started to change between us.

Bluff City had grown up, too. It was more like a real city now and not as much like a small town. Folks were moving into all the houses my father had built as fast as he could build them, and more stores had come in as well. Blossom and I had always sworn the first thing we'd do when we grew up was get away from Bluff City, but we didn't talk about that any more. It was home, and we were learning to appreciate it. We loved walking through town and knowing about everything that was going on around us.

Blossom and I liked looking in the windows of all the stores when we got the chance. I liked the pawnshop, with its big golden balls hanging over the door. I liked the way they swayed when the wind blew, and how you'd see something different there every day. I liked going to the cigar store for my dad. There was a wooden Indian outside the door, and all the little kids called him Apache. His loincloth and war bonnet were hand painted, and the cigar maker carried Apache inside whenever it rained so the paint wouldn't get soaked and flake off. Many's the time I've helped him.

Blossom liked to go into the shop that sold coffee and tea and spices. Mrs. Culp had done a good business reading tea leaves at one time. Business had slacked off, and Blossom didn't need to buy much tea anymore, but I think it reminded her of past times. Blossom knew without even looking at the labels what tea was Formosa, and which one was Oolong, and which one was Orange Pekoe. She liked to breathe in the smell of the coffee beans, and cinnamon and vanilla.

We were looking in the window once, and ran into Mrs. Van Deeter coming out of the shop. She gave us a ride home in her Cadillac. She seemed very pleased to see us together, and after a lively conversation with Blossom about different types of tea, we wound up being invited to come to her house for a tea party the next day. Blossom and Mrs. Van Deeter got to be quite good friends, which pleased my mother no end. Mrs. Van Deeter is probably the richest woman in town, but she gets bored easily, and since Blossom and I were responsible for a great deal of the novelty in Bluff City, she was always amused by us. The idea of us being a duo seemed to give her hope for more interesting times, and I must say we did fulfill her wishes in that respect.

There was a scandal when a store went up on Hope Street that put ladies underthings on display in the window. They weren't corsets and petticoats, either. They had lace panties, and brassieres trimmed in ribbon. The seventh and eighth grade boys like to wore the sidewalk in front of the place out, pointing and giggling like little girls.

I walked by there once with Blossom and whispered in her ear, "That what you want for Christmas?"

She shrugged. "If that's what you want to buy. Get a size twenty-four waist, and thirty-two bust, Alexander, but let me know when you're going in. I want to sell tickets to that, too. I could probably make more money at that than I made showing people through your ghost barn a few years back. I'm sure I could get Lucille to come on down to see you if nothing else."

I knew she'd do it, too.

"Forget it, Blossom. Just forget it. I'd rather squat with spurs on than have Lucille see me buying you black lace drawers."

The town had changed a lot, but our class of 1918 had changed, too, that year. We were all mighty restless. The boys, except for Collis Ledbetter, who was the smallest kid in the class of either sex and much babied by his mama, had traded our knicker suits in for long pants, and had begun to hang out at the billiard parlor in town by the Abraham Lincoln Hotel. The girls had begun to talk about which boys were good prospects and which weren't, and had put their skirts down and their hair up. This did not entirely please me, as Blossom's legs had just started to fill out, and I had just started to enjoy seeing them. Still I was glad that thanks to Mr. Franklin, she was able to have a few nice things to wear. She deserved them.

Letty Shambaugh was apparently still seeing Les Dawson on the side. Blossom said that when they came to the picture show, Letty always gave her a mean look. We used to speculate on what Mrs. Shambaugh would finally say when she caught them out on the town. Mrs. Shambaugh had never considered Les Dawson a good prospect, and likely never would. Letty was skating on thin ice, and Blossom and I were just human enough to want to be there when it finally broke.

Everyone in the high school had finally accepted Blossom and me as a couple, although Nola Nirider still looked at me once in awhile like she'd like to grab onto me if she got half a chance. Her parents own the notions store where most of the kids stop for penny candy on their way home from school, so she is fairly well off. I wasn't about to throw Blossom over for Nola, though. That die had already been cast.

That's how it is in a small town. You notice a girl, for whatever reason or other, and she notices you. You start walking her home, maybe because you like her, or maybe just because she lives your way. As you start to grow up, you start to go places together. People expect to see you together, so no other fellers get a notion to take her out. Everyone thinks she's your girl, and if you get along, and have fun together, you don't mind. That's the way it is, and usually it works out all right. There's a kind of affectionate contentment in your being together. Then after awhile it heats up and you wind up together for good. Sophomore year things started heating up between me and Blossom Culp.

We still did our schoolwork together. We had it down to a system by then, and we still used to talk about school over breakfast at least three or four times a week. My folks knew durned well if it wasn't for Blossom, they'd have no idea what was going on at the high school, and they were grateful to her for that.

We read "Romeo and Juliet" and did poetry by the Brownings, and read "The Man Without A Country" which was a durned sight easier to understand than "Romeo and Juliet". I could figure out that Nolan feller's reasoning, sorry though it was, a lot better than I could understand Shakespeare. I thought that Edward Everett Hale was a first class writer.

We studied chemistry, and I have to admit, I never would have memorized the Periodic Table without Blossom's coaching. I could understand chlorine being Cl, and calcium being Ca, but why gold had to be Au, or silver had to be Ag never made sense to me. I was never interested in Latin.

In history class, we were supposed to get all the way through the Revolutionary War by the end of the year, and I was looking forward to finally reaching the Civil War the following year. Our football team also beat the Bloomington Bulldogs that year, and as they were our biggest rivals, that was grand thing. Bloomington was a bigger town, and thought of us as hicks. Being beaten by a bunch of folks they considered rubes stuck in their craw.

Blossom had just turned fifteen that February, and I wasn't going to be sixteen until July, so some of what happened between us was a gradual thing. I couldn't have rushed things in the romance department if I'd wanted to. What I didn't know about women would fill a book. But I'd given her a silver plated dresser set for Christmas, with a hand mirror, brush and comb, which meant her hair was looking better, and a box of chocolates from Nirider's for her Valentine's day birthday. I had no doubt her mama had gotten into the chocolates the minute Blossom's back was turned, but it didn't matter. Mrs. Culp was welcome to them, as far as I was concerned. Anything I could do to get in good with her, I'd do. She was getting more used to me, but she was frightening in a way. I never knew what she was thinking. She has second sight, too, and is a fair hand with a crystal ball and card reading, besides the tea leaves.

I tried to be nice to her. My father used to get gifts from some of his suppliers at Christmas time, and that year it had been a popular thing to send fruit baskets. When the fifth one arrived, my mother was appalled.

"What are we going to do with all of this?" she asked, dramatically.

"I could take one over to the Culps," I offered. "Mrs. Culp might like that." My mother agreed. I carried a nice big basket over to their house, and found Blossom and her mother sitting at the kitchen table. Mrs. Culp eyed the basket suspiciously.

"What's that?"

"Just a little Christmas gift," I said, setting the basket down carefully on the table.

She reached out and grabbed a big, shiny, red apple.

"Kid, you're all right," she said, starting to cut it up into pieces small enough to manage with her false teeth. That was better than other things she'd said about me over the years, and I was pleased. Blossom looked pleased as well. That earned me a kiss when she showed me out that was quite memorable.

After Blossom's birthday, though, when I kissed her, the kisses were a lot longer and deeper than they'd ever been before, and that made it all worthwhile. That girl could surely kiss.

It made me wonder. "Blossom, where did you ever learn to kiss like that?" I asked her once, as we stood behind the barn, catching our breath after a good long round of spooning.

Being a psychic and sensitive to other worlds, she'd once done a bit of time travel. I had, too, but she'd done some of it without me, which always made me curious. She had gone and given her spelling bee medal to a boy she'd met in the future, and I always did wonder a bit what had gone on there. Mostly because she wouldn't talk about it, and she'll usually tell me anything.

"I learned it from you, Alexander. When you kiss me, it just seems to come natural."

I was pleased, but before I could let myself get too puffed up, I asked her flat out, "Have you ever kissed another boy?"

She got a distant look on her face. "Just once."

"Do I know him?"

"You know that you don't."

"It was Jeremy, wasn't it?" That was the boy she'd gone through time to help at Halloween our freshman year. "Dad-rat it, Blossom Culp, I knew it!"

"What difference does it make? I'll never see him again. You're being jealous of a ghost, Alexander. Did I act like this when you were up in the barnloft with the ghost of Inez Dumaine?"

"Inez was different," I argued. "She was dead! Jeremy isn't dead…he's just not alive yet. The way the world is going, who knows what they'll be getting up to in the future! And you were gone all night! What was I supposed to think?"

She glared at me, her black eyes shining like onyx. "Do you really believe that, Alexander Armsworth? Because you ought to know better. It's not the same. Nothing is ever the same with me and anybody else as it is with you."

"Well, I hope not," I answered her, and I slid my arm around her waist. She stood stiff for a moment, but then let me hold her, and we commenced kissing again. Besides our spot behind the barn, we went to all of the places the kids used to go courting in those days. The football stadium was a good place to go at night, and once in awhile my father would let me take out the Mercer. Blossom and I would drive to Hickory Lane, which was a dead end street on the hill just outside of town that was popular with petting couples. Dad favored our new Ford, but he kept the Mercer out of sentiment, and I knew if I played my cards right, and stayed in my dad's good books, it would be mine eventually, and Blossom along with it.

I was clumsy at first, but I soon figured out the right way to run my hand over the tucks in her starchy shirtwaists so that she would lean in instead of pulling away. Why they put so many durned buttons on those things, I'll never know. The first time I tried to undo one, it had seventeen, but when I got to the ribbons on her corset cover a few dates later they were a lot easier. Blossom Culp soon had me tied in different kinds of knots.

The whole world was in a knot that year. The June of our sophomore year, the Archduke Francis Ferdinand, heir to the Austro-Hungarian throne, I think it was, had been assassinated and in July, right after my birthday, Austro-Hungary had declared war on Serbia. Russia had joined up with Serbia, and Germany had declared war on France and Russia in August, and started marching across Belgium. Europe as a whole was one big mess.

Most folks in Bluff City were like the rest of the country, and wanted no part of the whole thing. President Wilson was doing his best to keep us out of it, although many people suspected that, like Miss Dabney before him, he had a soft spot for the British. We had been getting regular letters from Mrs. Birdsall, formerly Miss Dabney, but now they tended to be rather erratic. Blossom and I missed those letters and hoped she was doing all right. The last letter we had gotten had mentioned the war.

Apparently, the king was quite depressed over the casualty lists and had taken to visiting the soldiers quite regularly. He'd gone to review some of the troops in October and gotten a skittish horse, which threw him off and busted his pelvis, which couldn't have made being a war-time king any easier. He was also feeling pretty sorry for the Princess Vicky, who was married to the Kaiser, and stuck right in the middle of everyone's bad feelings. I felt sorry for her myself. It didn't sound like the Kaiser was any great prize. Queen Mary seemed to be handling things all right, though, and was spending her time visiting the hospitals and organizing relief efforts.

The Queen had even teamed up with Mary MacArthur for the common good, which was a wonder to our friend, Mrs. Birdsall, being that the MacArthur woman was somewhat of a radical, and not the sort of person you'd expect to be taking tea with the Queen. She knew how to organize things, though, and it seemed that a heap of organizing was necessary to keep Britain running through the war. From what Mrs. Birdsall wrote I got the impression that Mary MacArthur would have probably gotten on with Blossom like a house afire.

Blossom didn't like to talk about the war. Every time she did she got visions of barbed wire, bloody trenches and poison gas, and it scared her spitless. We talked about the war a lot at my fraternity meetings, though, over cigars and beer.

Wendell Burdick was a senior, and couldn't wait for war to be declared, so he could go off and become a big war hero. "If war's declared, I'll enlist the next day. After what them Germans did to those Belgians, who wouldn't?"

"You can talk," Monroe Puckett snarled. "They wouldn't take you if you tried. You can't see worth a darned. Who's gonna want someone with glasses as thick as pop bottles in the war?"

Orville Tweedy shook his head. "As long as Wilson's president, he'll keep us out of it. We're getting along fine. Let them folks fight their own wars without dragging us into it."

"Oh, go on!" Wendell said sharply. "Wilson's just an old time school teacher. I don't know what the suffragettes are whining about. A woman's running the country now. Wilson don't go to the privy unless his missus says it's okay." He looked at his beer bottle solemnly. "And what about this? Next thing you know the country will be dry. They're already talking about it. It don't seem right. A man who works hard has got a right to his beer!"

"When did you ever work hard?" Orville answered, and we all laughed, but I wondered. I didn't care that much for beer, and I only smoked a cigar when I was with the other fellas, but I sure didn't want to go off to France to get shot at. I thanked the Lord that I was no where near through school. I was hoping hard the whole thing would be over before I had a chance to get myself drawn into it.

The ice broke on Letty Shambaugh right before school began in the fall of 1916 right as we was starting our junior year at the high school. Mrs. Shambaugh caught Les and Letty in the gazebo behind the Shambaugh's house, and from what we heard it had been in a very compromising position. Les hadn't been the only one in that couple who'd had hands where they didn't belong, so Letty's mother couldn't even complain about it being all Les Dawson's fault.

According to the other girls at school, Letty had sworn it was true love, and had quoted a lot of the Romeo and Juliet from Miss Blankenship's last year's English class to make her point. It all ended with Letty being the first girl in our class to get engaged. Les gave her a diamond ring, and joined the Army, just to prove to Mrs. Shambaugh that he was a changed man and that he was going to make something of himself. The war couldn't come soon enough for Mrs. Shambaugh.

Les went off to basic training, and Letty waved her ring around until we all got mighty tired of it. Frankly, I didn't think much of Les Dawson's chances. The way our ships were getting sunk, I knew we'd have to go over there and lick someone eventually, and he didn't have the sense to come in out of the rain, much less a shower of bullets. I was curious to see if he'd do better than anyone expected or not. Sometimes a man is like a watermelon. It takes a thumping to tell whether he's any good or not.

Blossom and I had a showdown of our own not long after. It was all due to "Intolerance"…the one at the picture show and the nature of my sister. Blossom had a night off, and we had decided to go and see the picture, not knowing we'd be seeing Lucille as well. We'd watched "Birth of a Nation" not long before, and knew anything D.W. Griffith put his mind to was bound to be a spectacle. The plot was kind of convoluted, and somewhere between a Babylonian sequence, and a romantic scene between Mae Marsh and Robert Harron, I got to kissing Blossom in the flickering light. The problem was, my sister and her husband were sitting a couple of rows behind us, and since my folks were babysitting their son, Lowell, Jr., they got dragged into it as well.

Lucille and Lowell, Sr. has apparently spent more time watching Blossom and me than watching the picture, in spite of the fact that it was a thirteen reeler, and they already knew durned well what Blossom and I looked like. At least Lucille had. My brother-in-law is a gentleman to a fault, and has a soft spot for Blossom. I can't believe he would have come poking into out business on his own, but then, only cows know why they stampede.

Not having noticed this, I walked Blossom home, and then headed home myself. My mother and Lucille were waiting to pounce. My dad was sitting in his favorite chair with Lowell opposite him, looking uncomfortable, the way he always does when my mother goes off on one of her tangents with Lucille.

"Well, Alexander Miles Armsworth! I am surprised at you!" My mother began.

"What did I do?"

Lucille looked at me mournfully. "Honestly, Mother, he looked like one of those octopus things that we had in our biology book back in freshman year at the high school. Of course Blossom probably doesn't know any better. The poor thing hasn't had a traditional upbringing, but honestly, Alexander! You should know better than to be slobbering all over a girl in public. If you're going to go out with Blossom, you should at least treat her like a lady."

"Now, Sugar," Lowell interjected, "he wasn't exactly treating her like a man."

"Let's hope not," said my father, amused. He's always liked Lowell's directness. "And Lucille, honey, Alexander and Blossom have been sweet on each other for a long time. I'd be more surprised if he hadn't gotten a kiss out of her yet."

"Joseph Armsworth!" My mother exclaimed. "I will not have our son sowing his wild oats in public! It's unseemly."

"Well, Lucille, you should have taken a picture. It would have lasted longer." I said, my temper rising. I was just thanking my lucky stars Lucille had caught me at the moving picture show and not in Hickory Lane.

I looked at my mother. "I could always go see if the Shambaugh's gazebo is vacant." That shut them all up, and I continued. "I like Blossom and she likes me. We go around steady, and we have for quite some time. I haven't done a durned thing with her that I need to be ashamed of, so I'll thank you to mind your own beeswax, Lucille."

"I don't know why I even bother," Mother said in a huffy voice, and she went with Lucille to get Junior so the Seaforths could go home.

I went and sat out on the front porch, and my dad joined me. He slowly unwrapped a cigar.

"Alexander," Dad said carefully, "your mother means well. She just can't see that you're already sixteen. She thinks you're just sixteen, and there's a world of difference. I know that well. I am going to trust you to keep your head, though, and if I ever think I can't trust you, then I'll certainly trust Blossom. That's a girl who knows what's right. She's poor, but proud, and smart as a whip. I worried about you more when I thought you were heading in another direction, to be honest. If you and Blossom are serious about each other, then I'll help you get settled if I can, but I want you to give me your solemn promise that you'll finish high school before you start making any serious decisions about family."

"We haven't even discussed it," I said, blushing up to the tips of my ears.

"Well, if you haven't you should, or at least be thinking about it. There's a war coming, most likely, and people tend to do strange things in strange times."

Blossom came for breakfast as usual the next morning, but no one said a word about what had gone on the night before. A young girl had gone missing from a farm just outside of town, and the newspapers were all full of it. No one knew if she'd run off somewheres, gotten lost or been kidnapped, but it was causing a lot of speculation. Another girl in her early teens had gone missing the same way on the Missouri side of the river not long before that, it had people wondering if some kind of lunatic was on the loose.

I told Blossom all about how Lucille had been spying on us at the picture show as we walked to school, though.

She looked thoughtful. "Alexander, I don't know what's right. I only feel, and if the feeling is strong enough, then I say I know. And the feeling I get with you is pretty strong. You feel right. You always have, but I'm not worried about whether or not it's forever. Forever seems awfully far away right now."

All of the girls at school were talking about the missing girls. Maisie Markham was saying how she wouldn't walk anywhere alone at night until the case was settled. Maisie is on the heavy side, and I couldn't imagine anyone trying to cart her off, but I kept mum. If they did, they certainly wouldn't have gotten far. Nonetheless, I started taking Blossom home from her job at night. If I couldn't get the Mercer, I walked, but I didn't let her out of my sight, unless she was in her ticket booth, the high school or in her house. As it turned out that in her house was not a safe place to be.

.


	3. Chapter 3: Blosson Tells about her Pa

Chapter Three: Blossom Tells About Her Paw

Various people have been curious about my paw over the years. Paw always had itchy feet. Roving is in our blood, on both sides of the family. He and my ma met on a tenant farm in Missouri, and from what I hear, she wanted to marry him right away. When he was young, my paw was a good-looking devil. He was tall, had dark shiny hair and a spring in his step. As my ma found out, though, he did like his drink. After he got shot in the kneecap during a brawl in a Sikeston, Missouri bar room, he wasn't so springy. Paw never got the hang of settling down, though.

He used to wander off for a few days at a time, then it was a few months, and then it became years. I didn't see him at all between 1913 and 1914, for example. I remember him stopping in now and then and stretching out before the stove as if he'd never been gone, but it got to be less and less frequent. We were quits because I didn't even think about him for months at a time. He was my paw, but he didn't mean much to me. To some folks it mattered, but you can't judge people by their relatives.

He always kept in touch with us, even after we left Sikeston. He never sent any money, but he used to send postcards from his travels. He could never read or write (nor could my ma) but he would buy a picture postcard once in awhile and prevail on someone to address it to the Culps in Bluff City, just so we'd know he was still out there.

Paw never brought anyone home with him until that year of 1917. He never stayed in one place long enough to make close friends, but one day at the beginning of March, just when the spring rains had made the whole town a muddy mess, I walked in from school, and found him sitting at the kitchen table. Besides my Ma another man was there, also dark-haired and with black eyes.

I was in no mood to keep Paw company. They had taken orders for the class rings at school that day, and while I had tried one on, I hadn't put down a deposit. I couldn't see spending that much for something I had no real use for, although Alexander and most of the other kids had. There was going to be a Junior class ring dance in May, when the rings came in, so everyone could show them off. Alexander had promised to take me, even though I hadn't bought a ring myself. I appreciated that, but I was still feeling a bit low. Even though I was doing better for myself, I was getting tired of being poor.

Paw looked at me and blinked. "Well, don't tell me this is Blossom! Finally filling out there, aren't you girl? It's been a long time."

"And whose fault is that?" Ma said snidely, but Paw don't let much bother him.

"Girl, this here is my good chum, Arthur. We was just passing through, and I thought it would be a mighty fine thing if we stopped by."

Arthur just nodded and grunted.

Eggs were cheap then, and I'd gotten some good sausage from the butcher, thinking Ma and I would be able to eat off it for a few days, but Paw and his friend Arthur made right quick work of our food. Then Paw pulled out a pint of good whiskey and took a swig.

"You must be having a run of luck to be drinking that," I commented, as Paw don't usually have the cash for anything better than rotgut.

"Arthur here is a good businessman," Paw said, "and I've been helping him. We've been doing right well for ourselves."

Paw's friend didn't look like a businessman to me, but they both had on new overalls, and their shirts were fairly clean, so I knew they'd been making money somehow. Paw and my ma got to remembering the good old days in Missouri. Arthur just listened and took a swig now and then, but he had his eye on me, and I didn't like it. I hoped they would clear out soon, because our shack wasn't big enough to swing a cat in, much less put up two grown men for much of a time. They spread out on the floor in front of the stove half-conscious when the bottle was finished and I had to share my room in the loft with Mama, which wasn't an easy proposition.

I was glad to get over to the Armsworth's house for breakfast the next morning. "Paw is back ," I said, as I helped myself to some ham.

Mrs. Armsworth froze. My ma is one thing, but having my paw as a permanent neighbor would definitely be another. "Is he back for good?"

Alexander looked horrified. Fending off Lucille was one thing. I had no doubt he was thinking about what the average father would do if he caught a feller behind the barn kissing his daughter. Thank the Lord my paw isn't average.

"No, he never stays long. He's got itchy feet. He's here with a friend of his. They're planning some kind of business deal, but I expect they'll light out soon."

We got to talking about the missing girls again, and that was a better topic of conversation, although depressing in its own way. The rumors were now flying that the girls had been taken for devious purposes.

Sex is an interesting topic for most people. That's because it makes or breaks most relationships. If the lovemaking is good, the relationship tends to work out. If it's bad, it ends the whole thing, or at least it should. I know a lot of people in Bluff City wondered over the years why Alexander Armsworth chose me, and they've wondered why I let him do some of the things he did. They would never ask either of us to our faces, but I know they wondered.

The truth was, when Alexander started kissing me, and touching me in that way, it made me just as crazy as it did him. Girls aren't supposed to feel that way, or so a lot of folks think, but I did feel it with Alexander. For one thing, he was gentle, and gentle touching in certain places feels good. For awhile, he was very careful not to push me too far, for fear I'd either set to screaming or slap him silly, but the fact was no distance at all would have been too far with Alexander. If any other boy at school had tried some of that, I would have settled his hash, but I'd always known Alexander was different. It doesn't take a genius to spot a sheep in a field of goats.

After a considerable amount of time, he began to want me to touch him back, and eventually I did. Most steady couples our age were doing the same or more, and I sensed it. If the illusion of true love didn't prod them in that direction, their natural curiosity had led them to try it. At least I truly loved Alexander, and I knew he loved me, even though he hadn't got around to telling me so outright.

The first time he guided my hand you-know-where, I like to have died of embarrassment, but after awhile I became an expert at it. In spite of all the mess and unpleasantness and bother, I knew it was only fair. I had been getting Alexander worked up for a right long time, and he'd been patient about it, as far as young men go. I knew he was a decent boy who respected ladies, including me. Besides, the fact that I could make him feel that way made me feel right powerful. He wanted me, and needed me, and that was worth something. I needed to be needed. Now he was getting a lot more out of it than I was, but I knew I'd get where I was supposed to go eventually, and that when I did, it would be worth it. What the rest of the town didn't know didn't hurt anyone.

Normal sex is not a proper topic of conversation in Bluff City, but criminal sex gets all of the tongues wagging, as does casual sex. There was no bawdy house in Bluff City, but a few of the men in town were not adverse to going over to St. Louis or Alton, or to Bloomington for a high old time when the mood struck them.

Mr. Armsworth isn't one of them. I know that for a fact. He has enough trouble with the one woman he's got without going to look for another one. Lowell Seaforth never did cheat on Lucille that I know of, either. That man thinks she hung the moon, although I never figured out why, as he is for the most part, a very intelligent fellow.

The men who went called it "going to see the city". As witless as Alexander can sometimes be about women, I doubted if he had ever considered it. He'd had good examples in his pa and brother-in-law. The best sermons are always lived, not preached. Besides, he was doing well enough without having to pay good money to go a little bit further, but some of the boys in town had gone to see the city, and all the boys liked to hear stories about it. This I knew well. If gossip were to be believed, Bub Timmons and Champ Ferguson, two of Alexander's former friends from the grade school were regulars. I wasn't surprised. I always thought those two would have to pay to get anything.

After school the next day, Alexander and I had a bite to eat in town before he walked me to the moving picture house. I had gotten a couple of raises, and was working an extra night every week now. He gave me a kiss at the door, promising to come back and walk me home. I felt warm all over as I watched him walk away. There were some times I liked being close to Alexander even more than other times. I hadn't figured out my moods yet when it came to petting, but then my blood ran cold as I saw Paw's friend Arthur watching us from the door of the liquor store across the street. If he told Paw about Alexander and me, I was hoping hard that Ma would be able to explain that Alexander and I had a long serious history together. I didn't want Paw meddling in my business. When Alexander came back to take me home, I told him to leave me behind his house instead of walking me to my door. He didn't like that.

"Blossom, I'm just trying to make sure you're safe. I know you're a smart girl, but you're my girl, and I still worry about you."

That touched my heart, but didn't change my mind. "Alexander, I appreciate that, but I can see the lamps on at my house from here. I don't want you getting roped into dealing with my paw until I find out what he's up to."

He let me go then. I crossed the tracks, and came up on the house quiet as an Indian scout. I didn't know where Paw's friend had got to but Paw was there with Ma. They were having words, and they were loud ones.

"I done brought her up right. She hasn't done anything like that with any boy. A bit of spark, perhaps, but no flame," I heard Ma say.

"Well, iffen she has, she has done ruined her prospects, so I hope you're right. Come on, Lavinia, think about it. She's worth her weight in gold. We'll split three ways we will. You done enough for her. It's time you got something back. Girls are plumb useless to people like us anyway." This was my pa, and he wasn't making any sense.

"I ain't brought her up to be that way," Ma said firmly. "That girl is going to better herself. She can read and write a treat, and she's mixing with a better class of people than you ever did. Besides, I need her here with me. She puts food on the table, which is also more than you ever did." She paused, then I heard her say sharply, "You're gonna get yourself landed in jail, do you keep on with this. That man is going to leave you to take the blame, does any of this get out."

"I don't do nothing but hold the money, rent our rooms and pay the bills," Paw whined. "No one can lay anything on me. I ain't that stupid."

"You coulda fooled me," said Ma.

I heard someone coming from the tracks then, and figured it was my paw's new business partner, so I stepped around in front of my door right quick. Ma and Paw heard me and closed their mouths.

"Evening, Ma," I said lightly. "I'm back from work. I got seventy-five cents tonight." I always got that now, but Paw didn't need to know that. I laid it on the table, to show him that I wasn't as useless as he seemed to think I was. His friend, Arthur, came in right behind me, with a fresh bottle. Where he'd been between the liquor store and our house I had no idea.

Ma looked at the bottle, and looked at me, "Git upstairs."

I got. I tried to listen in on their conversation, but they were careful enough that all I heard was murmuring. The menfolk must have killed the bottle and passed out again, because my ma came up to the loft to sleep. I closed my eyes tight, so she wouldn't know I was awake.

"It's a bad business, and I ain't gonna have it. I don't truck with no whores," I heard her mutter, which didn't make any sense either, since it was men that was aggravating her. I fell asleep for real as she was spreading her blankets.

The next night began the same way, but ended much different. Ma sent me upstairs and the men commenced arguing with her, but they didn't bother to lower their voices. It was clear now from this conversation what they had in mind. Paw's friend was the one who had been grabbing all them young girls. He was a white slaver, was going around the country collecting virgins to sell to a bawdy house in Alton where he was friends with the Madam, who got paid a fortune for letting certain clients break them in. Then the girls were stuck. Even decent men might try out a whore now and then, but they never marry them. Once a girl went up the pole, she was in a fix.

Instead of kidnapping another girl before cutting out of town, Arthur was trying to convince Ma and Paw to just sell me. He was offering a good price, too. Paw hadn't been around me enough to have much kindly feeling towards me, and was weak-willed besides, but Ma wasn't having any of it. She knew that wasn't my destiny. I began to look around for something to help Ma fight them off with, in case it came to a fight. I wasn't wearing nothing but my nightdress, and was just fixing to dress myself proper when the argument got out of hand.

Arthur came to the foot of the loft, and looked up. He saw me listening before I could move, and knowing that I knew what he was, he started up, cussing a blue streak as he climbed.

"Noooo," Ma wailed, and grabbed hold of his shoulder. Arthur, who had had quite a bit of whiskey by that time, fell down, and shook his head to clear it. Then he got up with a low roar that turned Mama white and left Paw gibbering, trying to get between them.

Ma hollered, "Git on out of here!" at me just before Arthur cracked her across the head with his empty bottle. Mama went down hard. I heard my paw shout at him, but I couldn't wait to see what he was going to do next. With my heart in my mouth, I swung out my window, dangled from the drainpipe for a minute, and turned loose. I ripped my nightdress down the side, but I wasn't about to worry about my modesty at that point.

I took off running. I reached the streetcar tracks just as I heard a loud thunking noise and heard my paw groan. Apparently he'd gotten the wrong end of the bottle hisself. I heard our door bang open behind me, and I knew Arthur was hot on my heels, so I did the only thing I could do and took off across the Armsworth property. I rounded the barn and said a prayer of thanksgiving. The Seaforth's old Ford was parked by the house and the lights were on in Luella Armsworth's parlor. The whole durned family was home, and while I wasn't keen on having them all see me in my torn nightclothes, I knew they'd be happy to be of assistance.

I threw myself into the house screaming for help, and Alexander's folks and his sister and her husband, and Alexander himself were soon all piling into the hallway.

"Blossom Culp! What is the meaning of this?" Alexander's mother cried, taking in my dirty feet and faded nightdress.

"That man who's been taking them girls is out by the streetcar tracks. He tried to grab me. He took a bottle to Maw and Paw's heads," I gasped. "I don't know if they're even alive. I lit out. I jumped through the window."

"Son of a bitch!" Alexander and Lowell both snapped in unison, and Alexander added, "I'll kill him myself!"

"You'll do no such thing," Alexander's dad said, swiftly. "Alexander, you'll go call the sheriff right this minute, and then you'll stay here with your mother and Lucille and Blossom. Lowell and I will go have a look see."

Alexander went for the telephone in the back hallway, and Lucille began to cry. Mrs. Armsworth wrapped me in an afghan she took off the sofa in the parlor to make me more decent. It weren't too long before we heard the sheriff go roaring down the lane. Not long after we heard the sound of an ambulance bell, and I began to sob. If Mama died, my paw would want to have custody of me, and I didn't trust him any farther than I could throw him at that point. Alexander put his arm around me as his mother and Lucille went to make some coffee, and I told him the truth about Paw and Arthur, but I made him promise not to tell unless he had to. A muscle in his jaw started twitching, and he gripped me so hard it hurt, but I didn't care.

"Nobody's going to hurt you, Blossom. We'll see to that," he promised me, and I believed him.

Soon Joe Armsworth and Lowell Seaforth came back to the house with the sheriff, who questioned me about what had happened. They hadn't caught Arthur apparently.

I didn't tell the whole truth, but I didn't lie. I described Arthur to them, and the sheriff knew the man I was talking about as Arthur had been seen in town more places than the liquor store. He said he was going to put out the word.

"What about my ma and paw?" I finally asked, in a small voice.

They all looked at each other, and then Mr. Armsworth sighed.

"Blossom," he said kindly, "your father has passed on. Your mother is on her way to the county hospital, but it looks like she'll be all right. That woman must have a hard head, and it's lucky she does. It's no use going over there tonight. She isn't in any shape to talk to anyone. We gave the ambulance driver all the information they needed to get her settled in. I'll take you over there tomorrow. Tonight you'd better stay here. We've got an extra room facing the front of the house. We'll put you up there. You can't go home and stay there alone with that man on the loose."

"I'll get her something clean to wear," Mrs. Armsworth said practically. "Lucille, show her to the bathroom."

They found me a flannel nightgown, which was bit too big, but soft and warm, and a dressing gown that tied around the waist with a long cloth belt. They smelled like the sachet Mrs. Armsworth wears. I had a long bath, and cried from nerves as the water ran into the tub. I'd never been in such a big tub in my life. Lord knows where Joe Armsworth found that thing, but it was relaxing. They must have chased Alexander off, because I didn't see him no more that night. I put on the clothes they'd given me, and Mrs. Armsworth showed me to the spare room. It was a fine one, with a high brass bed, and a nice down comforter all folded at the foot of it, as if it was waiting for me. Alexander's mother gave me a hug, before she left me, and I nearly howled again at that. I'd never been hugged that way. My mama always meant well, but she never was much for affection. This was a hug like a real mother gives in a fairy story. I was asleep the minute my head hit the pillow.

When I got up the next morning, Gladys, the hired girl, was bringing me breakfast on a tray. "Here you go, you poor thing! Mr. and Mrs. Armsworth went over to your place this morning and fetched you back some clothes of your own. You eat now and get dressed, and Mr. Armsworth will run you over to see your Ma." She sighed. "I don't know what the world is coming to these days. I really don't."

Mr. Armsworth and Alexander took me to the hospital in their new Ford to see Ma. She was just starting to come around, and I asked if I could have some private time with her.

I gave it to her straight that Paw was dead, and that Arthur was a hunted man. I also told her I hadn't snitched on Paw.

"Weak as water," Mama said, with a sigh. "Girl, I'm right sorry about all of this, but I knew you'd be all right. We'll let it be. Iffen they catch Arthur, and he does try to tell, ain't nobody gonna believe him anyway. They'll just think he's lying to save his own skin."

That was the truth. The law got Arthur just outside of Alton, and got the whole story out of him, but nobody believed him. He'd admitted he'd swung the bottle that killed Paw, and they thought he was just trying to get off easier. Arthur was in for it, and I was glad. He couldn't get into the state's brand new electric chair soon enough to suit me. He also did admit to taking several girls to the whorehouse in Alton, and the place got closed down. The girls all got sent home, but the family outside of Bluff City moved away, so they could start over with no one knowing what had been done to their daughter.

I stayed at the Armsworth's house until Mama got out of the hospital. I didn't even lose my job for taking the week off. Mr. Franklin had gotten interviewed for the Pantagraph about me, and he was tickled to have the publicity. At first I was scared of how I was going to pay the hospital bill, but the law around those parts took up a collection for my ma for helping them catch the kidnapper. Lowell Seaforth got the Pantagraph to kick in a right nice sum of reward money, too. He figured he owed me for another scoop, I reckon. We even had enough to get Paw buried in a plot of his own, instead of sending him as a pauper to Potter's field.

I cried when I heard the clods dropping on the coffin, even though Paw hadn't been much of a father. It was the finality of it, and all the wasted potential.

The war started in April and I got considerably less attention after that, which was a relief. We'd all seen the war coming and so it wasn't much of a shock. In many ways it was a relief. I was just hoping it would be over before Alexander got drawn into it.

There was a hearing the first week of May. Mama got a new dress, dark gray and plain looking, and I dressed as simply as I could, trying to look young and innocent. Mama and I rehearsed out lines so well that we pulled it off, in spite of the fact that Arthur knew we were lying about Paw and said so. Mr. Armsworth and Lowell Seaforth both testified about what they saw and heard that night and so did Alexander, but he didn't break his promise. He didn't have to. The Pantagraph got another good story out of it, and Lowell got a raise, which made Lucille feel much more kindly to me.

Things were not good between me and Alexander at that time. They hadn't been since Mama came home from the hospital. He'd put his arm around me, and kiss me on the cheek, but no more. I asked him finally if he wanted to break up. I was cranky anyway, because the class rings had come in, and I regretted not having one.

"If you don't want to be with me no more, because my paw was such a lowlife, Alexander, I wouldn't blame you." I said firmly. I knew better than anyone, if folks know you've been wallowing with pigs, they're bound to see you as dirty. He was walking me along the back of the barn at the time, and stopped short.

"Blossom Culp, that's a damned fool thing to say."

"Then why don't you want to touch me no more?" I puzzled out loud.

He blushed right to the tips of his ears. "I didn't want you to think I'm like that man."

"Alexander, I never did and I never will." My heart melted and I threw my arms around his neck. Tears stood in my eyes as he held me tight.

"I love you, Blossom Culp," he said at last, into my hair.

"I love you, too, Alexander."

"I have a present for you," Alexander said, tilting his head back to look at me.

"Ain't my birthday."

"Doesn't matter," he said, and reached in his pocket. There was a small box there. I knew it wasn't his ring, because it was already on his finger. I opened the box slowly, and found a small one just like it, though. I picked it up slowly. The red stone shone like fire, and the gold was bright in the afternoon sun. There were letters carved on the inside. I tilted the ring to get a better look and saw: "To: B .C. from A. A. 1917" written inside.

I was stunned. "Alexander Armsworth…how?"

"After you tried it on, I told the jeweler to go ahead and make it up when he made up mine. I hope you're not mad," Alexander said quietly. "I have to wait until we graduate because of my dad, but I'm hoping if you can stand the wait, you'll take another kind of ring from me then."

"Alexander, I'd be right proud to consider that," I said, and then he kissed me until he took my breath away, and it was the best kiss ever.


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter Four: Alexander Discusses the Dance

It wasn't weighing too heavily on my mind that I had promised an engagement ring to Blossom. That seemed like long way off. The high school ring dance was not far off, though. Blossom and I were talking about it as we walked home from school hand in hand the day after the class rings arrived. I had mine on my finger, and I couldn't help swinging my free hand up every now and then, just to get a look at the sun shining on the blood red stone. A horn tooted and we looked up to see my sister Lucille roll up along side us in her old Ford.

When Lucille got that car, she was a menace to society, but she'd gotten better at driving it over the years. She could even pull up to the curb now without running it over.

"Well, Lucille, what are you doing here?" I asked.

"Looking for the two of you," she replied. She got right down to brass tacks, for which I was eternally grateful. "I hear you're going to the Junior Ring dance together."

"News travels fast," I replied.

Lucille ignored me and looked at Blossom. "What are you planning to wear?"

"I haven't decided yet," Blossom answered. "Why do you want to know?"

"I want to see the Armsworth honor upheld," Lucille replied. "You need something new."

"Alexander doesn't care what I wear," Blossom said, getting her fur ruffled.

"That's true, Lucille," I added.

"You two will be talking out of the other side of your mouths if the class snobs get on your case all night," Lucille said calmly, "which you can almost bet on." She looked at Blossom and sighed. "You've got some money, don't you?"

"Well, sure, I got some," said Blossom, still indignant.

"Then here's the deal," said Lucille. "We go to my dressmaker. You pay for the material, and I'll pay to have the dress made up. I owe you a favor anyway, for what you've done for Lowell, and after all, you only have one Junior Dance in your whole life. Don't you want to look nice? I can bet you right now that the other girls will be done up to their eyeteeth and looking for blood if you're not up to snuff. I have it in strict confidence that Mrs. Wysock has just finished a dress for Nola Nirider that will be the envy of the class, if we don't outflank her."

In the end, Blossom got into the car with Lucille and headed out to Mrs. Wysock, the dressmaker's house and I had to walk the rest of the way home alone. I knew next to nothing about ladies' dresses and still wasn't sure if the whole thing was a good idea, but anything that got Lucille and Blossom together was all right by me. If something don't seem like it's worth the effort, then it usually isn't. Lucille had to be given credit though for bringing up Nola's name. Nola and Blossom go together about as well as my Dad's bourbon does with chocolate syrup.

From what Blossom told me, she and Lucille had a fine time at the dressmaker. Mrs. Wysock talked Blossom into getting a green dress, because she said it would look good on Blossom with her hair. Mrs. Wysock said only red or dark-haired girls should wear green. She said it makes blondes look green in the face when they wear that color. I never noticed anything of the sort, but what did I know?

Once I knew what color the dress was, I ordered flowers for Blossom. The florist said I should buy white flowers and put a green ribbon on them, so that's what I did. The dressmaker came to our house with the dress, because she said she already knew where it was and it would be easier. I don't think Blossom wanted the dressmaker at her shack. Blossom isn't embarrassed about what she has, or doesn't have, but once in awhile she does let herself go further afield. Besides, Mrs. Culp was having one of her bad spells, and was out for the night. She hadn't been the same since she got out of the hospital that one time. Lucille, my mother and Mrs. Wysock and got Blossom done up in Lucille's old room

My mother was pleased as punch, not because Mrs. Culp didn't come over, but because she was going to get to take pictures of us with her new box camera that my dad got her for their anniversary. I was glad she'd already broken it in taking a hundred pictures of Lowell, Jr. because I was hoping the pictures would turn out well. I thought it would be nice to have a picture of me and Blossom together. If they turned out nice, I was going to give Blossom a print to keep in her room, and keep a print in a frame in my room, so we could see each other even when we couldn't be together.

So the dressmaker, my mother and Lucille got Blossom tricked up in her new outfit, while I cooled my heels downstairs with Lowell and Dad. It had taken me no time to get into my Sunday suit. They told me to get used to it when I wondered what was taking the women so long.

Lowell smiled at my dad when I said that, and told me that women take so long getting ready to go out because first they have to make up their minds, and then their faces. I complimented him on being clever, but he said he didn't make up that line. Someone else did, but he couldn't rightly remember who it was. It didn't matter because by then I had lost interest.

When Blossom and I went to New Orleans with my great-uncle Miles, to settle Inez Dumaine, our ghost girl, his friend, Mrs. Pomarade had gotten Blossom all dressed up for dinner one night, and she'd looked so good I hardly knew her. I felt that way the night of the dance when she come down the stairs. Her dress was made of some floaty material, and she had neat little white slippers with small heels. Lucille had done up her hair so that most of the frizz was tamed, and rouged her lips. She looked so grown up and beautiful that it scared me.

"Well, ladies," my dad said, "my compliments to you all. Blossom, you and Lucille did a fine job choosing that gown."

"Thank you, Mr. Armsworth," Blossom said softly, and gave him a kiss on the cheek. "That means a lot to me."

She let Mother wear out her box camera, standing beside me patiently with her arm around my waist, as Mother clicked away. I had my arm around her waist too, which was nice, since the dress material was so soft and silky.

Dad let me drive the Mercer to the high school so we could arrive at the dance in style. The dance was to be in the gym, which had been hung fore and aft with crepe paper in various colors. It was rather subdued due to the war, but it was still nice. When we walked in, several of the girls looked as if they had been struck dumb by the way Blossom looked in her new togs. No one looked nearly as good as she did. Nola Nirider had on a pink dress that was ruffled from top to bottom. She looked like a walking strawberry ice cream soda.

Letty Shambaugh had been lucky enough to have Les Dawson home on leave, and she hung onto his arm possessively. He was wearing his uniform, and I noticed the stripes, and said, "Hello, Corporal," as we passed him by. Going into the Army early must have given him a head start. All of the girls and quite a few of the boys were green with envy of the pair of them, but even Letty's dress, which had pearls sewn all around the front of it couldn't make her look any better than Blossom looked to me. Oh, Lucille, I thought, you have outdone yourself this night.

When Blossom and I got our punch, we got to reminiscing about Lucille's coming out party, which was the first time Blossom ever kissed me. My mother's cousin, Elvera Schumate had been pouring the punch at that party, and had made a hit by pouring a whole punchbowl of it over one of Lucille's ex-beaus, who'd had the nerve to show up at the party liquored up. It had been one of the more memorable parties in the history of the Bluff City social circles.

We danced, and that was nice. Feeling Blossom's arms around me, and having her cuddle in close to adjust to my rhythm made me more sure than I had ever been that she was the right girl for me. I wanted nothing more than to have Blossom Culp in my arms for the rest of my life. When they played "Some Sunday Morning" which was a song about marrying up, I thought about how close Blossom and I were to actually spending the rest of our lives together, and began to think about what that would be like. The idea of saying goodnight to Blossom and then being able to crawl into the same bed with her was appealing in more ways than one.

When we left the dance, I drove the Mercer to Hickory Lane, where we got to kissing. It was then that I made up my mind. Pausing with my cheek against her hair, I said seriously, "Blossom, I think it's time for us to be alone together. What would you think of that?"

"Alexander, we ARE alone together," she said innocently.

"I meant in a room, alone, sometime soon, for a whole night." I was blushing to the tips of my ears. I could feel them turning red.

Blossom sighed. "Oh, Alexander, I don't know…"

"Don't you want to?" I had to ask it, even if I was afraid of the answer,

"Yes, I do," she answered honestly, "but I don't know how."

"Oh, I think we could figure it out." I kissed her ear, and she shivered. "Think about it. No one would have to know. We could work it out."

"I wouldn't care if anyone did know," she said fiercely. "I wouldn't be ashamed of it or anything like that. I love you. I'd be happy, and I'd be proud, and I would never want to lie about it. It's nobody's business but yours and mine, but I still wouldn't want it to be something sneaky. Would you?" Her face crumpled. "Would you be ashamed of being with me?"

"Of course not. Never! You ought to know that."

"I know, and I promise, I will think on it."

I took her home, then, because I had a lot to think on myself.

The whole thing would take a heap of planning. It wasn't the sort of thing I wanted to leave to chance. Blossom and I never saw each other much in the summer. She had to tend to her mother, who couldn't do much anymore, an account of her head being addled from getting whacked with that whiskey bottle. Some days she'd be her old self and some days she'd be forgetful, or not even get out of bed. Mrs. Culp was getting to be a handful. I think the whole situation with Blossom's father, and how it turned out addled her mind a bit. Blossom had to take care of her, and tend their garden, and she was still working at the Bijou several nights a week selling tickets.

I went over to Blossom's house one night to walk her to work, and Mrs. Culp was lying on a pallet made up in front of the fire. She looked at me oddly.

"How are you Mrs. Culp?" I said, as cheerfully as I could.

"It's hard to take," she muttered. "I wish I coulda lived to see my baby girl. I wanna see her, and I ain't gonna make it."

"Mama," Blossom said softly, kneeling beside her mother, "I'm here. I'm going to work, but I'll be back soon. And you'll be all right until I get back."

"Bless her heart," Mrs. Culp muttered. "I can see her in my haid so clear. I just wish I could see her for real. She has her daddy's blue eyes."

"Mama," said Blossom in a pleading voice, "my eyes are black. Paw's eyes were black."

"She deserves a better daddy, yes, she does. She deserves that." Mrs. Culp closed her own black eyes.

"Mama, it's all right. It's over. It's not your fault," Blossom began, but then her mother began to snore, and Blossom stood up with a sigh.

"Are you sure she'll be all right?" I asked Blossom, worried.

"She'll be fine, Alexander. Once she goes to sleep, she's out for hours. She gets her days and nights mixed up sometimes, but she sleeps good when she does sleep." She took my arm, then, and I walked her to the Bijou.

The motion pictures were going great guns. We enjoyed them, but Blossom loved it even more when I could get the Mercer and take her over to Bloomington to the vaudeville house. It took her mind off her troubles. Vaudeville was still holding its own then. For a good time, you couldn't beat it.

They would open a show with an orchestra number, then a dumb act. A dumb act was something without any talk to it, like a juggler, or roller skating act, or maybe a sharpshooter. There's nothing better than a sharpshooter firing away in a vaudeville house. The second act would usually be a singing or dancing act. After that you could see a little play, called a sketch. Then the headliners came on before the intermission. After the intermission you got the animal acts, and the big musical numbers, followed by the biggest star. There were usually seven or eight acts in all. The last act of the night was usually another dumb act. Most people left after the star, but Blossom and I never did. She loved it all. We usually went out to dinner first, and then got ten-cent gallery seats, although sometimes I'd splurge and get good seats on the main floor for a quarter. That was a fancy date.

Even though people were still paying to see animal acts, contortionists, singers and comics perform live, it was clear that movies were the coming thing, even in 1917. Mr. Franklin had gotten in on the ground floor of the business, which was smart of him. The comic, Fatty Arbuckle, was making $5,000 a week that year. Women were spending their time arguing about whether Douglas Fairbanks was a better actor than Richard Barthelmess.

I had a lot to do in the summer to help my father, because spring and summer was the busiest time of the year in the building trade. A lot of construction has to be done in good weather, if it's going to be done right.

Brent McCallister was still giving him fits. The man was drunk as a skunk one day out of every four. He'd had a sorry life, and it wasn't getting any better. His father had died when he was sixteen, and his mother died a month later to the day. He'd had to leave school and start making his own way. He'd married a girl from the flour mill, pretty but poor, and he'd been crazy about her, but she'd died in childbirth. The baby was a scrawny thing that fought to live, and had turned out to be a fairly decent boy.

McCallister's son had enlisted the day war was declared, and had gotten himself killed in the Argonne Woods. He was lying under a plain, white cross somewhere in France. Brent McCallister had a right to be morose if anyone did, but my dad was hard pressed to keep covering for him. Dad wanted to keep him on the job, but Brent was a mean drunk, and unpopular with the rest of the crew. Meanness doesn't happen overnight, though, and this is something my dad knew well. I thought a lot of my dad for giving the man a chance.

Mother and Dad never went anywhere in the summer, as a rule, because of my dad's work, and since Lucille was expecting another baby in October, it didn't look like they'd be moving out of range until after the blessed event. So, Blossom and I couldn't have gone to my house, and we certainly couldn't go to her house with Mrs. Culp the way she was. It was rough luck. If Blossom and I were going to really be together for the first time, I was dead set against it being in the car or the barnloft or someplace like that. I wanted it to be special. I didn't want it tacky.

So we just saw each other when we could, and didn't go any further than we usually did. Not long before school started, Letty Shambaugh turned up in a family way. Les Dawson's leave had apparently been more exciting than he'd planned for. Letty left school and went to the Army camp where she and Les got married. They were together for about two days before she had to come home, as Les was getting ready to ship out. She came back to Bluff City to live with her folks. I almost felt sorry for her.

When school started, we were excited about being seniors. We ruled the school. Lucille had another baby boy right before Halloween, and Blossom and I spent quite a bit of time going over to her and Lowell's house with my folks getting to know him. They named him Joseph after my dad. I was happy for Dad, because I knew that tickled him. If I ever had a son, I decided I was going to name him after my great-uncle Miles.

Blossom was remarkably good with babies. She'd even change baby Joey's diapers for Lucille, and Lowell, Jr. was crazy about her. She always played with him when we went to see baby Joey. He liked that, because most folks who came to see the new baby didn't pay him any attention at all. Joey was the latest model, after all. Blossom would get down on the floor, and build blocks with Junior, and no one could read a story to him like she could. She'd do all of the different parts in different voices. Lucille allowed that if Blossom kept reading to little Lowell like that, he'd likely be as good a student as Blossom was, when it came time for him to go to school. That made me right proud.

The fly in the ointment was Mrs. Culp. She was getting more and more unpredictable. She kept sneaking out and wandering around at night, then sleeping all day. Mrs. Culp had always roamed around, but then she'd been scavenging things to sell, or making a few bits fortune telling. Now she was just wandering around witless, and it was a heavy load for Blossom to tote. It made me feel right helpless to see her.

"I hate seeing my mama so confused," she'd told me once as I walked her home from school. "She used to be one of the sharpest tacks in the carpet."

"I know," I said quietly. Her mother wasn't making sense more than half of the time.

Everyone said the war was going well and would soon be over, and I was relieved to hear it. My plans for the future included a lot of things, but not going off to war. The town had already been affected hard by the war. We'd lost a lot of the young men. Les Dawson had been killed in an accident in training camp, not two days before he'd been scheduled to ship out. Letty had been a new bride on her way back to Bluff City when it happened, and had to turn around and go pick up the body. He would never get to know the baby Letty was having. She was living with her folks, and wouldn't see anyone.

Belcher Cunningham, who'd been in my class every year I'd been in school had run off to go with the Rainbow Division and gotten himself killed. There were other gold stars in other windows, and it was a humbling thing to see them.

When Joey was eight weeks old, Lucille and Lowell decided to take him to St. Louis to see his other grandparents, and my folks decided to go along for a visit as well. They needed two cars just for the boys' things. They'd be gone for several days, and I decided that was the time for Blossom and me to take our relationship to another level. It looked like I'd be getting an early Christmas present, and I was hoping it would be the best one of my whole life. If I'd known how things were going to turn out, I would never have asked her to stay with me at all. Sometimes the biggest fool you'll ever meet is the one that watches you every morning when you shave your face in the mirror.

I made sure Blossom knew my folks were going out of town, and that we were giving Gladys the weekend off. She considered this carefully.

"Will you come and keep me company Friday night? We could go to Hatsue's for dinner," I added hastily, naming a Chinese restaurant that had opened up in town. "I know how much you like their chop suey." The Chinese family that ran it had moved down from Chicago, where they know how to make all kinds of food. "Then we could stop by my house for awhile."

"Is chop suey all I'm going to get?" she asked, in a brittle voice.

"I'm not going to make you do anything you don't want to do," I countered. "We can just be like always, but I want to spend some time alone with you."

I was serious about that. I wasn't about to try talking her into anything. If she got spooked, I planned on biding my time, but just to be on the safe side, I rode over to Alton and stopped at a drugstore. Letty and Les Dawson were weighing heavily on my mind, and I wasn't about to buy you-know-what in Hackett's Drugstore in town where everyone knows me. It was embarrassing enough to go into a drugstore where I was a stranger, and ask for what I wanted, but the druggist didn't bat an eye. It was a wonder to me that he could handle those things every day so casually. I hid the bag in my dresser drawer under some shirts that I hardly ever wore.

We had a nice dinner, anyway. Blossom does love chop suey. We didn't talk much, because we had to concentrate on the slippery, wet food.

"Green tea," Blossom mentioned in a small voice, as she poured from the fat brown pot on the table.

"Is that a fact?" I asked, trying to sound casual, and reached for an almond cookie. We never got fortune cookies. With our history together, that would have been tempting fate.

When we got to my house, and she followed me in, I was nervous as a long-tailed cat in a room full of rocking chairs, but then Blossom seemed to make up her mind. She kissed me, and I kissed her back, then I led her up the stairs to my room. I'd never seen her look better. She had on a black skirt, and a white blouse with a ruffled collar, pinned up with the little pearl pin I'd given her for her birthday that year.

She looked around carefully, her black eyes not missing a thing. She'd never been in my room before. She looked at my patchwork quilt, my books, and some signs I had hanging up that I had filched from the Apex Garage.

"I'd know this was your room even if you weren't here, Alexander," she said. "It's just so you."

"You know me better than anyone," I said, my voice cracking a little for the first time in years.

Scared?" she asked.

"A little."

"I didn't know boys got scared, too," she said in a soft voice.

"Well, I never did this before, either," I admitted.

"Well, I didn't think so! You're not like most boys, Alexander. I don't think you could do this with someone unless you thought it was love. That's one of the things that I admire about you."

"Blossom, I know this is love. I've loved you a long, long, time, even before I could say it to myself, much less to you. I knew since the day we went to take tea with Miss Dabney and we both saw Minerva that you and me would be together for good someday. You were like me in ways I couldn't understand at the time, but now I can. There wasn't no way around it."

Blossom smiled tremulously. "Miss Dabney said then that she could see I was fond of you, and that it weren't nothing childish. She said we had a lot of rare qualities in common."

"We're not children now," I pointed out.

"No," Blossom admitted, and then came back into my arms. I began to kiss her again, lightly at first, then deeper. She wrapped her arms around my back, as if she couldn't get close enough to me. It seemed like very inch of our bodies was touching, and it made me feel hot and cold and shaky all over. I guided her back, until the back of her knees hit the bed, and then she went over onto it, pulling me with her. I was on top of her, kissing her, getting my courage up to really love her, when she suddenly pushed me in the chest, knocking me off her. I rolled over, stunned.

"Whaaa?" I sputtered.

She sat up suddenly, breathing hard, and I saw an odd look come over her face. It was the look she got when the other side was calling to her, and I got scared. I heard a strange, whistling sound, but it wasn't the wind. My curtains were blowing, but the windows were shut tight.

The room began to throb and pound, and one of the metal Cadillac signs fell off the wall. The lamp on my desk began to vibrate, walking across the wooden surface it sat on. I caught Blossom by the arms as hard as I dared.

"What's wrong, Blossom? What is it? What do you see?"

"I have to go," she said wildly. "I have to help."

"Where are you going? Who needs help? Dat-rat it, Blossom Culp, don't you leave me! Don't you dare! Not tonight!"

"He needs me!" She moaned.

"Who needs you?" I was totally lost.

Then she said the word that drove a knife through my heart. The one word I never wanted to hear her say again.

"Jeremy!"

And then she was gone, and I was holding onto nothing but thin air. I was furious and I was hurt, and I began to cry and swear, but it didn't matter, because no one was there to hear me. I was as alone as I'd ever been in my life.

I got up, took the bag from the drugstore out of my dresser, and went out and threw the whole thing down the old well. I was through with women. I'd only wanted one girl in my whole life, and she obviously didn't want me.

Then I sat down on the bentwood settee on the porch and cried some more.


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter Five: Blossom Explains About Jeremy

The last thing on my mind that night was Jeremy. I was focusing on Alexander. I want that understood. All I could see were his blue eyes looking into mine. All I could hear was the sound of his breathing, and his heart beating, and the soft words he was whispering in my ear. That's how it is with words. The ones that soak deepest into your ears aren't the ones that get hollered at you. They're the whispers.

Then I heard a distant rumbling, and it got louder, and drowned Alexander out. His voice got far away and tinny, and as hard as we were holding onto each other, I knew I couldn't stay. The thunder was filling my ears, and the blue lightning was brighter than his eyes.

I spun forward through time, to nineteen and eighty-something, and saw Jeremy, sitting on the sofa in his house. He was wearing a fancy black suit, with a ruffled shirt and a big bow tie. His head was hanging down, and he was looking at my spelling medal I'd given him, holding it tight in his hand. He was so miserable, I couldn't stand it. I couldn't stand to see anyone in so much pain. I wanted to reach out and touch him, and then I found I could. I was there.

He looked up, and his eyes were brimming over with tears behind his spectacles.

"Blossom!"

He was on his feet then, with his arms around me. I patted his back gently.

"Jeremy, what's wrong?"

"How? How did you know?"

"I heard you calling me," I told him, gently stroking his red hair. "I knew you needed me, but dang-it, Jeremy," I said, drawing back, "this wasn't exactly a good time for a visit, so I'll thank you to tell me what the trouble is, so I can hurry up and get on home."

"It's Heather."

"What's that little brat done?" Heather was Letty Shambaugh's granddaughter, and no nicer than her mother had been at that age.

"She asked me to the Winter Formal, but she didn't mean it. It was just a joke. She really wanted to go with someone else, and when she asked me, he asked her, so she dumped me. She called this morning to say she wasn't going to come with me. Now I'm stranded here, and she and all of her stuck-up friends are probably having a good laugh about it." He looked down at the floor. "I was going to go alone, just to show her it doesn't matter, but it does matter. I can't walk in there alone. I was thinking about you, because you're the only girl who was ever really nice to me. I guess I sort of wished you here."

I was confused. "What's a Winter Formal?"

"It's a dance, Blossom. It's the biggest dance at school outside of the prom." He perked up, then. "But now you're here, and you can go with me, and I can show Heather she's not so hot."

"Oh, Jeremy!" I sank down on the sofa and put my head in my hands. "I can't just come dancing with you!"

"Why not? You're already here, and you'll fit in okay." He looked at me carefully. "All of the girls wear long dresses to formal and wear their hair up."

"Jeremy, I have steady beau. I was supposed to be with him tonight. It was important. I disappeared right under his nose. He's going to be mighty angry with me about it."

"So what?"

"So he's important to me, Jeremy! It's serious between us, and his folks have put their stamp of approval on it. When we graduate from the high school, we're getting engaged."

"You're getting engaged right out of high school? Why?"

"Because," I said patiently, "that's the way we do it where I come from. He's working for his Pa and he's going to go into the business full time after graduation, and we're going to get married, and that's that."

"Whoa," Jeremy moaned. "This is too much." He looked at me again. "If he's so important, then why are you here? How did I get you here? This is important, too, Blossom. It has to be. Didn't you say you go where you're meant to go? Isn't that what you told me?"

"Jeremy, this is complicated!" I started to raise my voice, but then the front door opened, and Jeremy's mother was standing there. I recognized her at once. She hadn't changed since the first time I'd seen her. She and Jeremy had the same red hair, and she was still wearing pants like a man, with high-heeled shoes. She was holding a little box made out of some shiny clear material. It wasn't glass, but it was clear like glass. There was a corsage of red roses in it.

"Well, I got it. You really should have picked it up earlier, Honey. Why you leave everything until the last minute, I swear…" She saw me standing there then, and blinked. "Oh…hello. Who are you?'

"This is Blossom," Jeremy said quickly. "She's going to the dance with me."

"I thought you were going with…"

"Heather dumped me. So Blossom said she'd go. We met…at a computer show," Jeremy said quickly, not exactly telling the truth. "She's not from Bluffleigh Heights, but she's my friend, so she's going to help me out."

"Well, that's nice of you," she said, coming over to shake my hand. "I never did trust that little bitch, Heather…ooops! Sorry! My mouth gets away from me sometimes. I shouldn't have said that."

"It's fine with me," I said honestly. "I agree with you."

"Never mind that. Here." Jeremy's mother handed him the flowers. "Wait until I get my camera. I want a picture of you pinning it on."

"Oh, Mom," Jeremy whined, but she gave him a dirty look that silenced him right quick.

"I'm glad it goes with her dress," she said, as she went over to a cabinet and pulled out a small black and white object. Turning around, she surveyed me critically. "It's pretty, but very old-fashioned. Have you always been interested in historical costumes?"

"Very much so," I replied.

Jeremy opened the little box, and took out the flowers. His mother shot off her little black box as he pinned it to my bodice with some long, pearl-headed pins. The box lit up, startling me, and a piece of paper popped out of the front. She set it down, and shot off a few more of me and Jeremy standing together. He had his arm around me and was smiling. After a minute, his mother checked the papers.

"Very good," she said with a smile, handing me one. I looked at the picture, and saw my own image coming into view.

"This is like magic!" I gasped.

"You can't beat a new Polaroid," she agreed.

"We'd better go," Jeremy said, ushering me out of the house. "It's a nice night. We're going to walk, so we can talk on the way." I stuck the picture in my skirt pocket, and followed him.

"Oh, all right, but call me if you get tired and want a ride home. Have a good time!" His mother waved at us, and we waved back. She was all right, really, I decided.

"Where is your high school?" I asked, shakily, completely flummoxed the by quick turn of events.

"Oh, the dance isn't at the high school. It's at the Andorra. That's a banquet hall over on Hope Street. Do you want chicken or filet mignon? We have to tell them when we get there. I think I'll have the filet mignon."

"The what?"

"That's steak," Jeremy said. "Don't you eat steaks in 1900?"

"It's December, 1917 where I come from, and yes, I eat steak, when I can get it, but I don't get it much. Why don't you just call it a steak if that's what it is?" This modern world was throwing me for a loop. Pictures that popped right out of the camera and steaks that weren't steaks was all too much for me.

"It's special. It's small and wrapped in bacon. You can have the chicken if you'd rather."

"No, I better have the steak, if it's small. Alexander and I just went out to dinner and had chop suey. I'm not that hungry." I felt a pang, thinking of Alexander. He was probably worried about me, thinking I was lost in time, and I was about to eat steak and dance.

Jeremy gave me an odd look. "Tell me about this Alexander. What's he like? And why do you want to marry him, for cripe's sake?"

"Because I love him, that's why. He's honest to a fault, and he's a real hard worker. He's good-looking, too. He has curly blonde hair, and blue eyes, and half the girls in Bluff City, naming no names, would like to get ahold of him, but he loves me."

"Why shouldn't he?" You're a nice person, Blossom. You're wonderful!"

"I'm poor, and my paw was a drifter, and my ma is sick and out of her head half the time. Alexander is well off, and his family is important. In the eyes of Bluff City, he could do better, and that's the truth, but his family takes people for what they are, not what their folks are."

"That's how everyone should be," Jeremy said with a sigh.

The parking lot at the hall was filled with the strangest cars I'd ever seen. Alexander would have broken his neck craning it at them. When I asked Jeremy about them, he pointed various ones out. "That's a Gremlin, and that's a Camaro. I want one of those, when I get my license. That big one over there is a Cadillac." A small red one that looked like a bug was called a Volkswagen, and I thought it was cute. "It's German," Jeremy said patiently. "Volkswagen means 'people's car' in German."

"So we done made up with the Germans at last?" I asked, hopefully.

"Blossom, it's been forty years since the second World War."

"What do you mean the SECOND World War? Oh, never mind, I don't want to know." I shivered then, and he put his arm around me as he led me into the hall.

The hall seemed huge to me. Jeremy turned in our tickets, and the woman who collected them marked them for the filet mignon and told us to set them in front of our salad plates when we got to our table. Then we went in and looked for one. There were about thirty tables, all draped in white cloths and set for eight people each. There was one in the back where no one was sitting yet, and we aimed for it. There were little twinkling lights hung along the walls that looked like stars, and a big ball made of mirrors over the dance floor. I eyed it suspiciously. It was pretty, but if that thing ever fell down it could kill somebody.

As we did, we passed a table full of giggling girls in shiny dresses, and boys in fancy suits. One of the girls looked up at gasped. It was Heather. "Wow! Jeremy, is that you? You actually look good. Who's your date?"

"This is Blossom," Jeremy said with dignity. "She's a friend of the family, visiting from out of town."

"I like your pin," one of the girls said, looking at my pearl, and Heather shot her a look that coulda killed her.

Heather looked back at me, and then got a puzzled expression on her face. "Have we met before?"

"Could be," I said simply, and taking Jeremy's arm, I pulled him away from the table.

"That was awesome!" He said, happily, as he pulled out my chair for me. "Oh, look…they have the picture booth over there. Do you want to get portraits made?"

I looked over, and saw a man posing kids in front of a big cardboard arch that was painted gold. "Does it cost more?"

"Lots more."

"No thanks, then," I said, "the one your mother took is good enough." I sat down, and looked at Jeremy. "I have to admit, it feels good to put a kink in Heather's tail. I never liked her type. Try to do better next time, won't you?"

"It'll probably get better when I go to college. I'm going to go for a Computer Science degree. When I get in a program with kids who are all interested in what I'm interested in, it'll be easier to make friends." He started fiddling with the silverware on the table. "So, you don't want to go to college? Even my sister Tiffany, is going to college now. She's a Political Science major. Remember Tiffany?"

I did, and I would never have pegged her for anything scientific. "Don't you want to get a good job?" Jeremy continued. "You want to be a housewife? That's weird."

"I have a good job now. I work selling tickets at a moving picture house."

"That's a good job? I hope you at least get in for free." I nodded and Jeremy looked thoughtful. "I wish you could stay here for awhile. I could take you to the movies here. I'll bet you would have liked 'Terms of Endearment'. All the girls liked that one. Shirley Maclaine got an Oscar for it."

"A what?"

"An Academy Award, for best actress. I like anything Robert Duvall is in. He got a best actor award this year. He's really good."

"Is he as funny as Charlie Chaplin?" I asked.

"Who's Charlie Chaplin?"

"Never mind," I sighed. I saw some people walking around drinking something out of glasses. It didn't look like punch, but it reminded me I was thirsty. I asked, "Can we have something to drink, too?"

"Sure. Coke all right?"

"Whatever." Jeremy loped off to get the drinks, and I sat watching people. The place was really starting to fill up. Two other couples came up to the table, and hesitantly asked me if the rest of the seats were taken. I told them no. One girl was short, and kind of chubby, and the other one had a long neck and skinny arms. Her hair was straight and brown. The boys both wore spectacles, and were both skinny with spotty complexions.

The chubby girl looked me over. "Do I know you?"

"I doubt it," I said. "I'm from out of town. I'm here with my friend, Jeremy." I pointed at him, and everyone's eyes got really round. I could see them even behind the spectacles.

"Oh, my God!" The brown-haired girl said, "I didn't think he'd come. I heard about Heather dumping him. That was a rotten thing to do. She's such a snob."

This I could agree with. "I hate girls who do things like that. That's why I decided to come help him out. Do you know him?"

"We were in the Chess Club with Jeremy last year," offered one boy. "Remember?" He said, poking the other one.

"Oh, yeah," the other boy said. "Jeremy...now I remember. He's really quiet, isn't he? My name is Jon, by the way, and this is Jason, and Carol, and Nancy."

"Pleased to meet you. My name is Blossom."

Jeremy came back with the drinks, and blinked to see me chatting away with the other kids. "Hi, guys," he said, recovering quickly. Apparently these kids weren't popular either, but they had banded together against the popular crowd, which was more than Jeremy ever did. I admired their gumption. I took a sip of my drink, and bubbles went up my nose, but I managed not to sneeze.

A waitress came by then, with bowls of salad and baskets of bread, which we passed around. When it was gone she even brought us more. After the salad and bread, we got our dinner plates. The filet mignon came with green beans and baked potatoes. The other girls had gotten the chicken, which turned out to be pieces of chicken breast with the bones taken out, covered with some kind of creamy sauce, and served with rice and corn.

I didn't think I'd be able to eat all of my food, but I managed to finish. Everything was good. The steaks were real tender and we got special knives to cut them with. We got pink ice cream for dessert, and at first I though it was strawberry, but when I took a spoonful, I found it had little pieces of candy cane in it, like the ones Nirider's sells at Christmas time. I never saw the like.

Music had been playing quietly while we ate, but now they got louder. The lights went down, and the shiny ball on the ceiling began to turn, throwing sparkles over everyone. I didn't like most of the music. Dancing to me is holding someone in your arms, and putting your cheek to theirs. There was a little of that, but some of the songs were silly and the dancing just looked like people jumping around with ants in their pants. Some of them songs weren't decent, either. When they started singing "That's the way I like it" I blushed, and there was a song called "Jessie's Girl" about a fellow wanting to steal the girl his friend was sweet on, that was embarrassing, too. I thought the song "American Woman" would be better, but it seemed real disrespectful to me when they got going with it.

Jeremy didn't mind sitting down during the jumpy dances, and we did find a few that I could actually dance to. One was called "Perhaps Love". A man with a twangy voice, sort of countrified, sang it and it wasn't too bad, and I really liked the one "All Time High" which Jeremy told me was from a James Bond movie. I had no idea who James Bond was, but the idea of having motion pictures with songs in them tickled me. I couldn't wait to see those start.

It was real strange dancing with Jeremy, though. It was so funny to have a boy holding me that wasn't Alexander. I started missing Alexander really bad. Jeremy was a nice kid. On one hand I was happy to show up Heather and give him a good time. She didn't seem to be having a good time with her new beau at all. She kept her eye on me and Jeremy all night. Seeing her watching us made me feel fine, but in another way it didn't feel right for me to be there with him.

"Those kids seem nice," I told him, nodding toward our table, as we revolved around the dance floor in time with the mirror ball above our heads. I had to steer, at first, but Jeremy was starting to catch on.

"They're okay."

"At least they stick together," I told him. "That's what you have to do."

"Is that what you did at school?" he asked me, and he had me there.

"No, I lived pretty much by my wits, until I got Alexander on my side, but it got mighty lonely at times. I know what it's like to be lonely, Jeremy, and I know what it's like to have someone. It's better to have someone. Trust me." I tilted my head back to look at him, and to my surprise, he leaned in and kissed me. He smelled like peppermint.

When the dance was getting to be nearly over, we said goodbye to the other kids at the table, and started to work our way out through the crowd.

Jeremy looked sad. "I had fun Blossom. I'm so glad you came. I wish I could have you here all the time. Blossom, can't you stay?"

"We've been thought this before, Jeremy," I said patiently. You know I can't. After this, don't call on me no more. I don't belong here, and we both know it. We can't be going and doing anything stupid."

"I could, if you'd let me." He leaned in to kiss me again, and I turned my face so it caught me on the cheek.

"Jeremy, no!" I shook off his arm and marched out the door, with him following me.

"Blossom, wait!" He caught me by the hand in the parking lot. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to make you mad, but I've never met a girl that I liked as much as you. I don't care where you come from. I don't care what you are. I like you."

"I like you, too, but it isn't right. Even if I could stay, it wouldn't be right. I'm not free."

"Because of Alexander," he said, in an exasperated voice. "You belong to Alexander. How much of you belongs to Alexander?"

"All of me," I said firmly.

"Do you sleep with him?"

"Jeremy! That's none of your business and nothing that ladies should be talking about with boys!"

"I know all about sex," he said, mulishly.

"Congratulations," I said with a snort, positive that none of this knowledge was first-hand.

"So, do you and Alexander have sex?"

"No, but I want to! I told you! I'm going to marry him!" That shut him up. We walked toward his house in silence. When we got there, I shook my head and tried to reason with him again. "Jeremy, I'm right pleased to help you out, and I'm not mad at you. I'm…flattered, but believe me, somewhere in this world of yours, there's a girl for you who will be the right girl, a girl who belongs here, and belongs with you."

"I guess so, Blossom. I hope so, anyway. Can I at least kiss you goodnight before you go? I promise I'll be nice."

Oh, well, why not, I thought, and I leaned in and pressed my lips to his. I heard the thunder then, and saw the blue light.

"Goodbye, Jeremy, goodbye." I managed to say before the world began to spin around me.

I shut my eyes tight until I felt myself stop moving, and looked around. I was back in Alexander's bedroom, and he was in his bed, asleep under his patchwork quilt. His arm was flung out, as if he were reaching for something. His eyes were puffy and he looked very, very young. My heart lurched at the sight of him. I eased myself onto the edge of the bed, and called his name. He opened his eyes, and looked up, dazed from sleep.

"Blossom? Is that you?"

"Yes, Alexander, it's me, and it's all over."

He sat up, frowning. He was wide awake now, and madder than a wet hen. "You can say that again! Blossom, you and I are through."

"Alexander! How can you say that? I had to go…"

"Oh, yes, you made that perfectly clear. You couldn't wait, could you?" I reached for his hand, but he pulled it away as if it burned him. He was glaring at my corsage, which I had forgotten to take off. "He gave you FLOWERS?"

"Alexander, Jeremy needed me," I said, tears filling my eyes.

"I needed you too, Blossom! What kind of life are we going to have if you hightail it off every time you get the urge? Not long ago we were talking about marrying, weren't we? What if we had gotten married? Would you leave your husband's bed any old time you felt like it to go off with some other man? I'm just glad I found out in time where I stood with you."

"Alexander, I love you," I said, and I was crying hard now.

"You don't know what love means, Blossom," Alexander said, his voice cracking. "Go home."

I could see he meant it, so I did. I cried all the way down the stairs, as I left the Armsworth house, and as I walked over the tracks. I was still crying when I let myself in the house. Mama stirred as I crept past the stove.

"Girl, what ails you?"

"I've lost Alexander, Mama," I sobbed. "I wish I'd never got the gift. It's a curse, not a blessing. I had to go somewhere tonight because of it, and now Alexander don't believe I love him, and he don't want me no more. My life is ruined."

"Honey, that boy wants you. He wants you so much that he can't stand it when you ain't with him. He's angry because he wants you so much, can't you see thet?"

"I want to, Mama, but no, I can't. We're through, and my heart is broke."

"He'll come back. He'll come back for his baby girl, you'll see, and then your powers will fade. When the two shall be as one, the spirit's power will be gone."

She wasn't making any sense, and that made me cry harder. "Mama, please!"

She shook her head. "Now I know why I gotta go. It has to be. I'll bring him back."

"Mama, don't you even think of going over to the Armsworth's to talk to Alexander. You'll only make it worse."

"I ain't going over there. I'm gonna go lots further than that."

And turning over, she fell asleep again. I climbed up to my room wearily, and pulling Jeremy's picture out of my pocket, I stuck it under my mattress. I put my rose corsage on the bedside table, and crawling into bed, I cried myself to sleep.


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter Six: Alexander and Mrs. Culp

I moped around the house for the rest of the weekend. At times, I had lots of energy, and I paced the place off pretty thoroughly. Other times I felt so numb I could lay on my bed for hours, just staring at the ceiling. I even forgot to eat, which isn't like me at all.

When my parents got back from St. Louis, Lucille and Lowell were with them. My father cuffed me on the shoulder as they came in. "Well, Alexander, how was your weekend?"

I decided to take the bull by the horns. They were going to find out anyway. "Not good. Blossom and I are through."

My directness was rewarded by the way my mother's voice scaled up as she responded to what I had said. "Whaaaat? Alexander what happened? I thought you and Blossom were getting along so well, and she's been helping you so much with your schoolwork!"

"I'm not the only one she's been helping," I said sullenly.

"Oooh, who else?" Lucille asked excitedly, as she juggled the baby, but Dad gave her a look that hushed her right up.

He then looked at me, concerned. "Alexander, are you sure about this? Blossom's been at school, or with you, or at work all of the time. If you're trying to say she's been playing you false, I haven't seen her anywhere with anyone else."

"Neither have I," Lowell interjected, "and I'm in town every day."

"If Blossom's been helping anyone else with anything," my mother said, "I'm sure it's not as important as you're making it out to be."

"I don't want to talk about it," I said, and walked away.

As I went up the stairs, I heard my mother sigh. "Oh, Joe, I hope this doesn't spoil his last months of school."

I resolved to work as hard as I could then, just to prove to her that I didn't need Blossom Culp. I really began to hit my books hard. Dad was going to a big meeting of builders up in Chicago at the end of the spring, and had been talking about taking me along. That was going to be my ticket out of Bluff City. I had it all figured out. I was planning on doing well at school, so that there would no problem with me taking the time off to go with Dad. I was going to go along to the meetings, and finding some big city contractor to work for. I was going to get out of Bluff City and be somebody important, just as I'd planned before Blossom started with me. I was going to show them all.

Word got around school quickly that Blossom and I weren't together anymore. Blossom didn't say anything to anyone about what had happened, and neither did I. We came to school, did our work, and took care of our business. She looked right miserable, but then so did I.

Collis Ledbetter did come up to me one day, and say, "Better luck next time!" as if I'd struck out at a baseball game, and my fraternity brothers started asking me to join them at the billiard parlor more, but not much else happened at first.

I was still too mad in February to even wish Blossom a happy birthday. Letty had a baby boy not long after Valentine's day, and the whole school was talking about the poor fatherless thing, and let up on me and Blossom for awhile. She named the baby Leslie Dawson, Junior, and from what I heard, he was a good baby, who didn't give Letty too much grief. I didn't go visit, but some of the girls in our class did, and they all thought the baby was too cute for words. To me, most new babies looked the same, and I'd had enough of little Joey. I didn't need to go see little Les. Besides, I didn't have nothing to say to Letty. I was sure she'd heard about me and Blossom busting up, and I didn't want to be quizzed about it.

I ran into Mrs. Van Deeter on Eldorado Street, near my father's office one day, and she invited me for tea. I went, reluctantly, but I went. It turned out she had already had Blossom over.

"I was most saddened to hear of your present state of circumstances, Alexander," Mrs. Van Deeter said to me sternly, as she passed me a cup of tea with milk and sugar. "Miss Culp would not tell me exactly what happened, but I consider you both my friends and I was wondering if I could help in any way."

"I don't think so, Mrs. Van Deeter, but thank you for your concern," I said, rather coldly.

She shrugged and gave up on Blossom. We then spent a few minutes discussing the weather, and remembering some funny stories about my great-uncle Miles before I left. Remembering Uncle Miles made me think about the time he and Blossom and I had gone to New Orleans, and that made me feel even worse. Uncle Miles had always been my favorite relative. We'd had a lot in common, and Blossom had forged a real connection with my great-uncle. I was never going to be able to forget that, and it made me feel very mixed-up.

I knew the girls in our class were still dying of curiosity weeks later, but I didn't pay any attention to any of them. I was done with women. As far as I was concerned they were nothing but trouble. I'd managed to avoid the Widow Dawson, but I was still considered a good prospect by some of the girls. I was heading home from my father's office one afternoon when I found out how much trouble women really could be. Nola Nirider hailed me from behind, and when I turned to look at her, she was carrying at least ten parcels, and about to drop them all.

"Alexander Armsworth, you have been sent straight from heaven to me," Nola simpered, as only Nola can. "Could you help me home with these? I've been shopping for my coming out party, and I got in over my head."

I took a few packages off her hands, as I couldn't see any way out of it.

Now that she had me trapped, she continued jabbering away happily. "It's going to be a wonderful party. I'm having it the week before Easter. We're going to have it in my back yard, and there's going to be cream puffs, and chocolate eclairs. I'm having a new dress made and I do think it's the prettiest one I've ever had. I hope you'll come. All of the best of Bluff City society will be there."

I figured that was her way of telling me I could come to the party without running into Blossom Culp, and that rubbed me the wrong way. In spite of what had happened with Blossom, I wasn't any more keen on society as I'd ever been. I didn't answer as I walked down the street trying not to drop the hat box that was on top of the stack she'd thrust at me. Then I realized what street we were on.

Sometimes you have, and sometimes you get had, and I'd been had. We were walking right past the Bijou, and Blossom was in the ticket booth. Nola didn't say anything, but I saw her look at Blossom out of the corner of her eye, and I didn't like the look. It was smug, and she had no right to it. If I had wanted to get involved with another Bluff City girl, it wouldn't have been Nola. Blossom dropped her eyes when she caught me looking at her, but I'd seen enough. Her black eyes, normally her best feature, were duller than they had ever been. She looked sad and sick, and while there might have been a time when I would have taken pleasure in it, that time had passed. I realized right then how much I missed her, and how hurting her wasn't giving me no satisfaction.

"Why, Nola," I finally said, as I dropped the parcels on the Nirider's porch, "I'm sure you'll have so many people at the party, you won't even know if I'm there or not."

I walked away confused. I knew then that being with Blossom, and then not being with her, had changed me. I didn't let my friends lead me around any more. I had learned to apply myself to my schoolwork. Because of Blossom, I had learned to appreciate my parents. Even Lucille and I were actually friends at last. I had goals for my life…real goals. I had grown up, and I knew Blossom had helped me become the person I now was. I was not happy without her, as I thought I'd be. I didn't really want to be a lone wolf, even a successful one. I had control of my life, but somehow, deep down, I knew I'd be even stronger with her in it.

If nothing else, I missed Blossom's friendship. I missed her clear-eyed way of looking at things. I began to try think of ways that we could at least be civil again, but nothing came to me. Then she missed three days of school, and I started to worry. I heard Mr. Moody, the principal, talking to Miss Blankenship, our English teacher, about Blossom in the hall on the third day, and I knelt down near them and pretended to do up my bootlace so I could stay in hearing range. Apparently Mrs. Culp had gone missing, and Blossom was frantic. Her mama had wandered off before, but not for three days at a time. I knew how worried she must be, and I hated picturing Blossom hunting around in the neighboring fields, looking for her alone.

When I got home that night, I found my dad on the porch smoking a cigar. "Mrs. Culp hasn't been seen in three days," I informed him. "I wonder where she is."

"I sure hope she's all right," my dad said calmly, "because I hate to think of Blossom on her own with no one who cares about her around to ease the burden."

I sat down on the porch and stared out across the back yard. There was something moving out there. "Who's that?" I asked, and my dad looked up. It was one of our neighbors, Mr. Hochhuth, and he was loping along behind Sagebrush, his favorite hunting dog. The dog came up to me, and I scratched him behind his ears.

"Evening, Joe, Alexander," Mr. Hochhuth said, panting a bit as he reached us. "I don't know what's wrong with this fool animal."

That startled me, because Mr. Hochhuth had gotten that dog as a puppy five years before, and loved it like one of his children. They went everywhere together. Mrs. Hochhuth was fond of telling anyone who'd listen that if the house ever caught fire, her husband would see to that dog before he looked out for her.

Mr. Hochhuth continued, "We were walking out past the edge of town, over near the old Snake Creek trestle bridge, and Sage got spooked something terrible."

I got one of my premonitions then, and it made my blood run cold. I looked at my father, and my voice wavered as I said, "Daddy."

I hadn't called him that for years, and when he looked into my eyes, I saw understanding there. "Where was it?" Dad asked. "Can you show us?"

"Well, sure, iffen you like," said Mr. Hochhuth, confused. "Why? Do you think it means something?"

"Could be," I answered.

We left the dog on our porch, and tramped about a mile past the grove, and took the secondary road behind the abandoned Leverette farm. Mr. Hochhuth pointed to a stand of trees. "We were just going past here, and the dog took off on me."

I walked over to the trees, and looked underneath them, and my heart was in my mouth. At first I thought it was just a pile of rags lying there, but then I saw it was Blossom's mama. I prayed that she was just asleep, but when I walked closer, I realized her eyes were open. I called to her, but she didn't move and I knew she was dead. Her mouth was slack, and there were flies around it. She didn't look peaceful, and she didn't look pained. She was just gone. Mr. Hochhuth gasped, and I shuddered. My dad swallowed hard and laid his hand on my shoulder.

"Fred, "he said, looking back over his shoulder at Mr. Hochhuth, "go get some help. Tell Luella to let you use the phone at my house. It's the closest. Alexander, you better go get Blossom. I'll stay here until you all get back."

"No," I said, my voice cracking for the first time in a long time. "I don't want Blossom to see her like this. She'll never get over it, does she see her like this. I'll stay. You go with Mr. Hochhuth, and get help. When you get back, then I'll go tell Blossom. Get the sheriff, or call McCulloch's funeral parlor. Jake McCulloch will know what to do. I got the money Uncle Miles left me. Tell him I'll pay, otherwise he won't hurry hisself over here."

"You don't have to use your own money, son," Dad started to say, but I cut him off.

"We'll see," I said hollowly, "but tell him anyway. Just go. Please."

They hurried off, and I sat on the ground next to Mrs. Culp. I turned away from the body, but I could still hear the flies buzzing. I took great gulps of air, willing myself not to faint. I tried to think about my memories of Mrs. Culp. I remembered how we had a party at our house once, and she come and read everyone's palms and didn't charge anyone, even though that's how she usually made her living. I remembered how she had caught me at her house with Blossom one night, and had whacked me across the seat of my knickers with her walking stick as I lit out. I remembered her talking lovingly about her baby girl. Then I had to wipe my eyes with my sleeve.

It was getting dark, and the wind was cutting through my shirt by the time they got back. I left my dad in charge then, and cut out for Blossom's house. When I got there, I saw her through the window. She was sitting at the table, and a tin mug was in front of her…coffee maybe, or tea. Knowing Blossom, it was more than likely tea. I saw her push the cup away with her arm suddenly. It clattered off the table onto the floor as she put her head down on her arms and sobbed.

I didn't knock. I just walked in. She looked up and then ran to me. Her voice was so full of love and longing that I had no doubt I was doing the right thing.

"Alexander! Oh, Alexander, I knew you'd come!"

I held her tight, and she laid her head on my shoulder and it was as if she'd never been gone from me. It was like nothing wrong had ever happened between us. In a way, nothing important had.

"Blossom," I said gently, "it's your mama. She's…gone on."

"I know," she whispered.

"How did you know, Honey?"

"I knew it when I saw you. Mama's gone, and you're here. She told me, you know. She told me the night I left your house. I come home, and I was crying, and she said she was gonna bring you back to me. I didn't know then it would be this way, but it comforts me, Alexander. She wasn't crazy after all. She knew it with her second sight. That comforts me. You're a comfort to me. Alexander and nothing will ever mean so much to me as you do."

"I know that now," I said, and there weren't nothing else to say. I think everything was settled right then. I would have liked to have told Blossom I was sorry about what had happened between us, but it was no use. You can't unsay cruel things, but I didn't need to. She understood me perfectly.

Blossom wouldn't let me or my dad help with the funeral. She had some money saved from when her father passed, and she'd saved some more from the Bijou. Mrs. Culp was buried in her like-new gray court dress in a nickle-handled casket that rode in Jake McCulloch's motorized hearse. She never looked better.

She got a lot of flowers. I sent a big pillow of white roses like the ones they'd put in Blossom's corsage for the ring dance and had them put " Dear Mama" on it in gold letters. My folks sent a vase of red roses, and Lowell and Lucille sent a vase of mixed spring flowers. Mrs. Culp got a big cross made out of flowers from the sheriff's department in honor of her helping them catch Arthur. The Shambaughs and the Niriders went in together and sent a wreath made of carnations, and Lucille fumed when she saw the card.

"I'd throw it straight in the trash if I were you," she said indignantly to Blossom, but Blossom just shook her head.

"What's done is done, Lucille, and it's best to let it lie."

We had written to Mrs. Birdsall, who was the closest thing to a friend Mrs. Culp had ever had in Bluff City right away, but we didn't know how long it would be before she got the letter, or when we'd hear back. The war was going well. The Russians had thrown out the czar some time before, which meant things were quieter on that front, but the Germans were still holding on. Everyone was still hoping it would be over by Christmas, but things were not normal yet in England by any means.

After the funeral, there was some talk in town about what to do with Blossom. Some folks said she was still a minor and shouldn't be living alone out back by the tracks. It didn't seem safe. She was seventeen, and we were only three months away from graduating high school, but it was still a complicated situation. My folks would have liked to have her come and stay with us, but my mother was afraid the neighbors would think it wasn't proper.

The week before Easter, I decided Blossom needed to ease up on the mourning, and I took her to Nola Nirider's coming out party in the Mercer, which had officially become my car. This stuck in Nola's craw, but there wasn't anything she could do about it. She couldn't exactly tell me to leave Blossom on the porch when we got there. For one thing, I had been properly invited, and no one had said I couldn't bring a guest. For another thing, it was raining cats and dogs, so everyone was wandering damply around inside the Nirider's house, causing a lot of confusion as they sidestepped each other to get to the food and the punch.

It was similar to the party my mother had given Lucille several years before, besides the rain. Nola had a very smart dress, and a big bouquet of flowers, and stood in the hallway, greeting guests alongside of her parents. They had smiled coolly at me and Blossom when we'd arrived hand in hand, but no one had said anything except hello. More folks we ran into at the refreshment table gave condolences to Blossom on the passing of her mother than had given Nola compliments on her dress, which pleased me no end. Blossom and I had some punch, nibbled on a few chocolate eclairs, and watched several boys from our class try to make up to Nola. I sidled up to them one at a time and wished them all good luck with her.

Over Easter vacation, our old grade school principal, Miss Spaulding, passed away suddenly from a bout of pneumonia, and Blossom and I went with most of the other kids to the funeral. Miss Spaulding had been very tough, but fair, and we were sorry to see her go. There would never be another one like her.

"She was a great lady," I said to Blossom on the way back from the cemetery.

"You mean a great woman," Blossom corrected me. I didn't see what the difference was at that time, but I eventually figured it out.

Between the passing of Miss Spaulding, and everyone thinking ahead to graduation, the fact that Blossom and I were back together ceased to be a topic of conversation at school. Everyone just accepted it for the fact it was.

After Easter, when my dad made his plans to go to the builders meeting in Chicago, I told him I wanted to take Blossom with us.

"She needs a change," I said firmly. "Getting away from Bluff City and getting her mind on something else will do her a world of good. She loves to travel. Roaming is in her blood. Chicago is a big place, and I'm sure we can find something for her to think on there besides her mama."

And in the end, my father agreed.

I totally forgot about trying to meet a big city builder to go to work for. I went with my father to all of the fancy dinners and business lunches, bringing Blossom when I could. At the opening dinner, my dad stood up and announced that after I graduated, I would be coming into the business as a full partner, and that he'd be changing the name of the company to "Armsworth and Son" which took me by surprise, but made me proud. I spent precious little time with the other contractors, though. I have no doubt some of them decided by the end of the week that I was a bad prospect, although I did go to a few meetings for the sake of appearances.

The only one that was really interesting was on remodeling. My father was very keen on going into the remodeling business, besides new construction. It would guarantee us steady work all year round, and would cover us if the bottom ever fell out of the new housing market.

I just wanted to spend my time with Blossom, but my father never complained about me ducking out of some of the meetings. I think he was relieved to see us back together, and I was grateful to him for being so understanding. Besides, he had friends among the other men, and like as not, they were enjoying being together without having to watch what they said in front of a high school kid, even one who was about to graduate.

Chicago is an amazing town. Blossom liked the lake, but wouldn't get on any boats heading out on Lake Michigan. A ship called the Eastland had sunk in 1915 and drowned 844 people who had been going on an outing from Chicago to Michigan City, Indiana. What was ironic is that Blossom is an expert on the Titanic disaster, and a lot of folks were wondering if what had happened on the Eastland had anything to do with changes that had been made after the Titanic sank.

They were trying to blame the sinking of the Eastland on the ballast tanks, but the Eastland had always been sort of top heavy, and had almost capsized once before back in 1904. After the Titanic had sunk without having enough lifeboats for everyone, the Eastland's owners had added three lifeboats and six rafts, which weighed about fifteen tons. That much extra weight on the top of the ship couldn't have helped when it started to roll. It was a debate that would go on for years.

We were standing on the south bank of the Chicago River, near LaSalle and Clark Streets, when Blossom had a fit of second sight. She said she could see the ship rolling over and hear the screams of the folks who had been trapped below.

She cried then, and cried so hard I had to take her to see the Essanay Studios, where Charlie Chaplin had made the picture, "A Night at the Show" which was one of Blossom's favorites. Chaplin wasn't there, of course. He'd moved over to Mutual in 1916, but just seeing a place where Chaplin had once worked perked up Blossom. She did enjoy Charlie Chaplin.

We went to see the Art Institute, too. That reminded me of all the museums Blossom and I had seen when Miss Dabney had taken us to London. It had been designed by a Boston firm, Shepley, Ruttan and Coolidge, that my father though highly of. It was of a classical style and had big bronze lions at the entrance. A lot of the statues were plaster reproductions of famous pieces, but they had some original things, too. There were a lot of prints, and some nice paintings by folks named things like Millet and Steen and Hobbema. Blossom's favorite was "The Assumption of the Virgin" by El Greco. She wasn't real religious, but pretty is still pretty. Church-type art is always the fanciest.

Our hotel was near Lincoln Park, and we liked going to the zoo. Most girls like animals, and Blossom was no exception. It was a pretty place to walk. If we had stuck to walking there, my life might have turned out much differently. I'm not sorry, though.


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter Seven: Blossom in Chicago

I missed Alexander something fierce when we broke up. I had faith that we'd get together again, because of Mama's second sight, but I didn't know how long it would take. I didn't want my life to be nearly over when it happened.

I looked after Mama, kept to myself at school, offered to work extra days at the Bijou, and stuck to my homework. Everything reminded me of Alexander, though. When I sat behind him in class, I would look at the back of his neck, where his blonde curls hung down along the top of his collar, and want to reach out and touch him. When I studied, I fretted, wondering how he was coming along with the work. I started following the streetcar tracks to get to school, which is the long way around, instead of going through Alexander's yard, because I was afraid I'd see him, or his folks.

Mrs. Van Deeter had me over a couple of times, trying to cheer me up.

"The course of true love never does run smooth, Blossom," she told me.

"I think Alexander's pier has collapsed, Mrs. Van Deeter, but I do thank you for your kindness," I replied. I then changed the subject to my concern for Mama, and Mrs. Van Deeter was a sympathetic ear, as always.

When I seen Alexander out walking with Nola Nirider, carrying her bundles like a pack mule, it like to broke my heart all over again. We talked about it later. We were looking at hats in Marshall Field's big store in Chicago, and I liked one, but I didn't want to spend the money. It was a four dollar hat, after all. Alexander offered to buy it for me, and I asked him if it reminded him of the one he'd bought for Nola when we were busted up. He got the blankest look on his face that I have ever seen, and I've seen some blank looks on Alexander. Then he snorted.

"I never spent a plug nickel on Nola Nirider, Blossom Culp. Now you've gone too far! She may have suckered me into helping her carry some packages once, but they weren't mine, and I never bought no hat." He was livid.

"All right, Alexander, "I said with a smirk, "don't go turning yourself inside out. I believe Nola suckered you, because she's good at that, and understanding the motives of the female sex has never been your strongest point."

He blushed a bit, and then looked sad. "It was that night that I knew I'd made a mistake, Blossom. When I walked past the Bijou with Nola, all I could think about was how much I missed you. You looked awful, and I expect I looked no better. It was all wrong! I should never have been jealous of you and Jeremy. We should never have broken up. We should have been together all along."

We walked hand in hand then to see the Marshall Field's Tiffany glass mosaic dome that was one of the high points of a visit to State Street. "It's six thousand square feet," Alexander offered, and he reminded me so much of the excited young kid he'd been on the Steamship Olympic, going to England, that I had to smile.

"Alexander Armsworth, I will always love you."

He looked startled, but grateful. "I don't know why, but I'm really glad," he replied. "I don't deserve you, but I'm glad I've got you, and I'll do my best to make it worth it for you."

When Mama passed on, Alexander and his pa were the ones that kept me going. I had always liked Mr. Armsworth. He had been very kind to my mama at the going away party his wife had held for me and Alexander and Miss Dabney when we'd gone to England, but now I truly loved him. He was one of the best men I ever knew. I was so pleased and proud to know he cared about me that I wanted to make him proud, too, that he'd snaked me in out of the wet.

When Miss Spaulding died, Alexander and I went to the funeral together. Miss Spaulding had been a big part of our lives for a lot of years. After the service, I stopped by Mama's grave. Alexander hung back at first, giving me my privacy. The marble marker was so new it wasn't even very dusty. I knelt down in front of it and looked at the carving on it: Mama's name, and the years 1878 – 1918.

"Mama? Can you hear me? I hope you can. I hope you can see me from the other side, and that you know I'm all right," I whispered. "I'm here with Alexander. He came back for me, just like you said he would. You were right, Mama, and I'm glad of it. I hope you're glad, because I think you'd be real proud of Alexander, and all he's done for me, and his folks, too. I hope you're proud of me, too, Mama, because even when I didn't say it, I loved you, and even when you didn't say it, I know you loved me."

I stood up, and Alexander tentatively came to my side, and put his arm around my waist. I leaned against him and sighed. "I miss her."

"Of course you do. It wouldn't be natural if you didn't," Alexander said wisely.

I wondered what Mama would have said if she had known that Alexander had brought up the idea of us getting married again. I would never have started talking about it, but Alexander did, when people started worrying about me living alone. I had been fretting about that ever since the night he had walked me home from the Bijou not long after Mama had been laid to rest. I didn't want the neighbor's opinions to start interfering with my life. Alexander worried about me, too, though.

"At least it won't be for long, Blossom," he had said firmly. "Let's just get through school, and we can announce our engagement like we always planned to do," he had firmly. "We know now that we really do belong together, and there's no reason to wait."

"I don't know if we're ready to get hitched, Alexander," I said slowly. "We just got back together. There's been so much happening. Let's share our time, before we start running around Bluff City announcing that we're going to share our lives."

He looked a little hurt, but he wasn't about to start any arguing with me that night. It's not that I didn't want to say yes. I just didn't see the need to rush. The way the Armsworth family had stepped up for me made the idea that we'd have the same name some day made me feel warm all over. As long as I had them living right across the tracks from me, I knew I'd be all right. Mama had said something once about her baby girl deserving a good daddy, and I wondered if she had been talking about someone named Armsworth all along.

I knew I was all right in Mr. Armsworth's books, but I didn't know for sure how Luella Armsworth felt about me getting back into her well-ordered life. I didn't know how Lucille and Lowell Seaforth felt about it, either. We hadn't talked in any depth. They'd just showed up for Mama's funeral as if nothing had happened, and Alexander and I had just started showing up to play with his nephews like we had always done. The boys were glad to see me, especially little Lowell. He'd missed me. That made me feel warm all over, too.

Things had warmed up between me and Alexander in different ways since we'd patched things up between us, but we hadn't talked any more about lovemaking, aside from one conversation we'd had about how stupid we'd both been that one night at Alexander's house.

"We pushed ourselves too far, Alexander," I'd told him. "We made too big a deal out of the whole thing. When it happens, it'll happen naturally. We'll know when it's right. I don't think it's the sort of thing people like us can plan for."

"We were under a lot of pressure," he admitted. "I think that's why I flew off the handle like I did."

After that we let the subject drop, although we'd quickly got back to the kind of things we'd been doing all along. The touching and kissing were as good as ever, and we found we could get the same results just pressing ourselves together without going all the way.

We came closest to crossing the line after Nola's party. I was in one of my loving moods that day, and the rain beating down on the Mercer made me feel awfully mellow. Lover's Lane was deserted, and it was like we were in a whole different world there, without anyone else around to bother us. I was very proud of Alexander for taking me to the party, and for making it clear that Nola was out of the picture as far as he was concerned. He looked so handsome with his new suit, and his blonde hair ruffled up a bit from the wet weather. He made me feel good, but it still didn't seem right to go too far.

We had adjoining rooms in Chicago, and he sneaked in for a cuddle now and then, but never spent the night. That was something I was looking forward to. I was literally aching for it. I wanted to really have him be a part of me, and I especially wanted wake up with Alexander in my arms some morning, but that part of it was not to be for a long time.

I did love Chicago. I loved traveling, and anywhere with Alexander was fine with me. We had enjoyed out trip to New Orleans with his Uncle Miles, and we had really spread our wings when we'd been in London with Miss Dabney. She'd been so busy with Mr. Birdsall, that she'd pretty much left us to our own devices, which suited us best. It was Alexander who'd decided that Mr. Birdsall suited Miss Dabney, and he had been right about that. It was one of the first times he had not been a total dunce in matters of the heart, and I loved him for it.

I loved him for understanding how I felt about the Eastland, too. I'd once had a terrible bout of second sight concerning the Titanic, and anything concerning shipwrecks gave me the willies. Alexander had stepped right up, dried my tears, and distracted me, and I was grateful.

We saw nearly the whole town that weekend, and there was a lot to see. I felt bad, taking Alexander away from his pa on a business trip, especially since Mr. Armsworth was so keen on helping Alexander get a leg up in the world of construction, but it was a magic time for us, and Joe Armsworth knew it. He had made friends with a big strapping fellow named Mike Paulson, another builder from southern Illinois, and they were enjoying all of the meetings, and were having a grand time swapping ideas about how to do more with less on their job sites.

A few of the fellows had brought wives, and I did spend a couple of hours here and there shopping or lunching with them, while Alexander made a few necessary appearances with his father. Those ladies were all much older than I was, and seemed to think Alexander and I were as cute as a basket of kittens. Mike's wife had not come, being in a family way with their fourth child, and the one regret I had about the trip was that I was not able to meet her. I would really have liked to meet her. Mike had taken a real shine to Alexander, and Mr. Armsworth must have told him that I was the future, as far as Alexander was concerned, so he was very kind to me.

I mentioned to Mr. Paulson at lunch one day how kind it was of the two of them to let Alexander off work so often to show me the sights, and Mike had given me a wink, and whispered, "Why, Miss Culp, I know how it is to be young. I know what it's like when you first find out one girl is the only girl, and I believe in family men running businesses. You don't get the connection with your customers you should, if you don't know what it means to have a home of your own."

That made me wonder what Alexander and I would do for a home, if we went ahead and married young. Alexander wasn't flush enough to buy a house, and I couldn't see him taking one from his father. Bluff City had thought Joe Armsworth was crazy enough giving Lowell and Lucille a Ford for a wedding present. I could just see what they'd say if he gave me and Alexander a house. They'd think I was after the Armsworth money for sure. I didn't want that, but I certainly didn't want to wind up living in the Armsworth mansion in Alexander's room with the Cadillac signs hanging around, and his parents sleeping down the hall. I decided to put that out of my mind for the time being.

Chicago is a magical town for builders as well as tourists. It was the biggest symbol in the trade for grit and hard work and achievement. Practically the whole city had burned in a big fire in 1871, and for awhile folks wondered if the place would ever get on its feet again. The "Great Chicago Fire" as it was called, was one of the most spectacular fires of the nineteenth century. Nearly 300 people died, 17,450 buildings were destroyed, and ninety thousand folks were homeless when it was all over. Another fire in Peshtigo, Wisconsin had killed twelve hundred people the same day, but it was always the Chicago fire that got the most notice. Many of the people in Chicago had despaired, and many other cities were willing to write Chicago off, but the people that survived wouldn't let it go. The fire changed the look of the city, but it changed its character, too. Within a week of that fire, six thousand temporary structures had gone up, and in the fullness of time, the city came back grander than ever.

The Home Insurance Building, the first commercial skyscraper to be supported by steel instead of masonry was built in 1884, and led to a whole slew of buildings that became known as the "Chicago School of Architecture." That's why builders loved to meet in Chicago, in my opinion. It inspired them.

I suppose we shouldn't have been surprised by the good feelings we got there. I often wondered if Alexander's pa had known how magical things were going to get, if he would have regretted it, but now I'll never know. What happened just happened, and once it was over, we couldn't take it back.

Since our hotel was near Lincoln Park, we stopped by the zoo one afternoon. It was a popular city attraction, thirty-five acres of land surrounded by city. Chicagoans are very good about saving open space…more so than lots of other big cities, where they slap up anything anywhere. It was very beautiful there, and peaceful.

We made it back to the hotel in time for a grand dinner, but neither Alexander or I felt like sitting around while all of the builders talked some more about the same things that they had been talking about all day. It was a nice night, not very cold, with a clear starry sky, so we excused ourselves to go for a walk, and went back to the park.

It was fairly deserted, and I did wonder why, it being such a beautiful night. However, I was soon thinking of nothing but the warmth of the evening, and of Alexander's hand in mine. All I cared to see was Alexander's blue eyes looking down at me lovingly, and the inky black sky above us, dotted with stars.

As we walked through the park, I noticed a thick clump of bushes, with a gap in the front, and curious, I walked over to it. Stepping inside we found ourselves in a thicket that was as big around as a good-sized room. I smelled spring flowers, and spun around, delighted.

"Oh, Alexander, this is so pretty. It's like Mother Nature's gazebo!"

He laughed, and I put my arms around him, and it was as if the sounds of the night had turned into the sweetest music I had ever heard. Alexander must have heard it, too, because he put his arms around me, and I laid my head on his shoulder, and we began to dance around on the soft green grass. I felt like I belonged here, in this place, and in Alexander's arms. I had never felt this way when I danced with Jeremy, and I wanted to tell Alexander so, but then I decided it was better to let the subject of Jeremy drop for good.

We were soon breathless, and smiling, I sank down onto the ground. Alexander was right beside me, and then he was kissing me. He was really, really kissing me, long deep kisses that turned me inside out. I stretched out on the velvety grass, not even thinking that there could be a million people right outside the leafy green walls that held us in. Nothing mattered but Alexander's hands and his mouth. He fumbled a bit with my blouse, and then found his way inside. The cool night air washed over me. Then Alexander was sliding his lips down my throat, to my bosom. It felt so right. He began breathing hard as he licked and kissed and suckled me. He moved his fingers gently along the outside of my thigh, then under my skirts. I raised up as his hand moved over my backside, letting him slide down my drawers. He began gently stroking the places no one else had ever touched. I felt him hard against me, and fumbled with the buttons on his trousers, freeing him. His jacket hung down, covering us a little bit as he leaned in on me, and began to rub his body against mine.

This was always wonderful, but this time was different. I felt a hunger for him stronger than I'd ever felt before, and tried to draw him even closer, spreading my legs wider and raising them a little. Then as he moved, he happened to slip down, and slide into place, entering that first tiny bit. Alexander jerked up his head, staring into my eyes.

"Blossom," he whispered, "do you want to? I want to and I want you to tell me it's all right. Please…just tell me yes."

"Alexander," I began, but I didn't have to say yes. He could see it in my face. He pushed down, and entered me fully. A burning pain spread between my thighs, that made me gasp, and then I felt heat deep inside. I wrapped my arms around him, stroking his hair, his neck and his back, and then found my voice again. "Yes, yes, yes!"

He moved in and out, and the pain left me as I got used to the feel of Alexander being part of me. I heard him repeating over and over in a soft voice, "I love you. I love you, Oh, Blossom, I love you." Then he gave a strangled cry that I knew well, and slammed down hard. I felt him pumping inside me, filling me up with more warmth.

He collapsed on top of me, panting. I could feel his heart pounding against mine, right through his shirt, which was damp from exertion. I held him close as he buried his face in my neck. "I love you, too, Alexander," I whispered into the soft mop of blonde curls that tickled my chin.

"You're not sorry?" Alexander mumbled into my hair. His breath was warm against my neck.

"I'll never be sorry," I assured him. "It was right. It felt right. It felt good, and right, and always. Are you sorry?"

"For that? No! It was wonderful. You were wonderful. It's not how I thought it would be, or how I'd planned, but it was wonderful."

Then as we lay together on the soft grass, just holding each other, I saw a strange glowing light behind him, and jerked with shock. I half expected a policeman to appear, swinging a nightstick and making some dirty remark about kids who had to sneak around and go frolicking in the bushes at night. This was no policeman, though. The glowing light became the figure of a woman with long dark hair decorated with feathers and colored beads. She had glowing eyes, and was wearing some kind of clothing made of leather. It was a strange spirit, and I found myself shaking with fear and gave out a little yelp.

Alexander raised his head when I cried out, and finally became aware of the light. He jerked away from me. Embarrassed, I felt a warm stickiness spread between my legs and seep out onto the ground as he struggled, trying to work his pants back up.

"Hey!" Alexander cried feebly, and then realized we were being visited by some sort of ghost. "Oh, no, a haunt! I am doomed! I've done wrong, and I'm going to be punished for it! I'm evil, and I'm being cursed! Oh, Lord have mercy!" As Alexander fumbled with his buttons, I sat up and pressed myself against his back, trying to hide my breasts as I fought with the ribbons and buttons of my own clothes.

The ghostly figure looked amused. "Do not fear Beltane," she said. "This is a sacred night, a sacred place and a time of giving. It has been a long, long time since anyone has come to dance in this grove in homage of this feast day. No one has given an offering of first blood to the spirits of spring for many years. The spirits of the ancient ones were weakening from lack of respect. You have honored this night with your giving, and for that you shall be honored. You have nothing to fear."

This sounded encouraging, and my hands quit trembling long enough to get my blouse back on. "You're not going to curse us?" I asked hopefully, as Alexander continued to whimper. He's never totally used to his gift of second sight.

"Indeed, no. You have, by your offering, created a communion between earth and sky. You have restored power to the ancient ones, the ones that once lived in these swamps, and rode on these rivers, by honoring our customs. As your gift has restored us, we will honor you in return. I shall give you a gift. I give you the gift of life, that gift promised to all respecting of the rites of the spring."

The strange woman raised her hand, and waved it at us. I was struck then with a burning pain in my belly. It was like a fire inside me that made me suck in my breath. The pain was so strong, I had tears in my eyes as she called, "Farewell!" and vanished.

When she was gone, it began to ease, but I was still frightened, and clutching my belly, I began to sob. Alexander was so stunned by the ghost that he didn't even notice at first. He was so intent on watching her leave it took him a minute to realize something had happened that neither of us was ready for.


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter Eight: Alexander Accepts the Truth

The spirit faded away, to my relief. We were alone on the soft grass, with the night air cool around us. I looked over at Blossom, to find her clutching her belly and crying. I've seen Blossom sad, and I've seen her scared, but I'd never seen her like this, and it rattled me badly. I've always been able to count on Blossom to have pluck and grit in any situation, and this had me stumped.

"Blossom! What's the matter?"

"It burned," she moaned. "I could feel it burn."

I glanced down, and blushed, our spirit guest leaving my mind in favor of more practical concerns. Putting my arm around her, I asked her as gently as I could, "Did I…is it still what I did?" I almost asked her if I'd broken anything, but even I wasn't that stupid. I might have lost my virginity, too, but I knew it was a durned sight harder on girls than it was for men. Girls set quite a store by these things. They have to, society being what it is.

She shook her head violently, and letting go of her middle, buried her face in her hands as she sobbed. At least then I was able to get my arm around her better, and I leaned her head against my shoulder, and waited for her to get her words back.

"Alexander, I think she meant it. When she said it, I could feel it. I really felt it happen. I felt something anyway, and it wasn't normal."

"What part of that conversation are you talking about?" I asked, wondering how talking with a ghost could ever be considered normal, even for Blossom and me. I brushed her damp hair back from her face, where it was falling down. It tends to get frizzy in times of crisis, and this was no exception.

Blossom blinked, which sent more tears running down her cheeks. "She said she was granting us life. I think she meant that literally, Alexander. It was like a lick of fire down inside."

I puzzled this out for a moment, and then something clicked. I thought about what granting us life might really entail, and I blushed again. "Blossom, are you saying you think you might be…"

"I don't know, but I think so. Alexander, I just have a feeling. I'm so sorry!" She commenced wailing again, and I gripped her hard, thinking fast.

If there was one time in my life I had to mind what I said, I knew now was the time. I was scared spitless at the thought of being a father, but there was no way I was going to run out on Blossom, if what she suspected was true. I had to calm down quick and try to make her see that she was going to be all right.

"Blossom, calm down. You've got nothing to be sorry for. I may not be the sharpest tack in the carpet, but I know enough to know you've got to expect things like that when you do what we just did, spirit, or no spirit."

For a moment I thought of the bag from the drugstore that I'd thrown down the old well at home. I mentally kicked myself where it would be the most instructive, but I was determined not to let Blossom see any regret from me. So I said as comfortingly as I could, "We'll take our chances like anyone else. We're in this together, just like we always are, and I don't mind much."

"Alexander," Blossom said sharply, looking up at me, "don't tell me you planned on having any baby, because I know durned well that was the last thing on your mind."

'Who plans that sort of thing anyway?" I shrugged. "If it happens, it happens near as I can figure. We just got to be sure so we can make plans. How soon do you think you'll know for sure? Do you always come at a regular time?

She blinked, and now she was blushing, which was a rare thing. "Yes, but what do you know about it?" She eyed me suspiciously.

"I grew up with an older sister, you know. I heard Lucille complaining enough about being cursed to get the gist of it, and I knew it wasn't a spirit she was talking about! So, how much time do you think we have to wait?"

"Couple of weeks, I expect," Blossom said looking down, "but most women have to miss more than once before they're sure."

"Well, that's not going to be the case here," I said practically. "You've got a nose for this kind of thing, Blossom. If you think it's so, I believe you." I got an idea, and ran with it.

"We have to get moving right away, at any rate," I said. "At least we got a head start. If we do start now, it'll save us a lot of grief from the Bluff City crowd. Things could get rough if we don't."

"Like I've never had it rough in Bluff City…Alexander, whatever are you talking about?"

For once, I had a better grasp on the situation than Blossom Culp, and I was determined to press my advantage.

"If we act quick, we'll be able to save at least some of our reputations," I said practically. "No one will expect us to know what we know already, so I think we'd better take advantage of that, and get ourselves engaged right quick."

"You still want to marry me?" She looked stunned.

"Well, if you got any better ideas, I'd like to hear them. Of course I do! I love you, and you know it. After what we just did, you certainly should, and in spite of the way you run me ragged at times, I know you love me. It was bound to happen sooner or later, and it might as well happen now. Then if what you think is true, at least when word gets out, at least people will know we were serious about each other before it happened. I don't want anyone thinking this isn't something we wanted. No old Bluff City windbag is ever going to tell my kid that his parents had to get married!"

"How do you know it's a him?" Blossom was still sniffling, but she smiled a bit, and I knew she was getting her second wind.

"Him, her, or them, I don't care. I got enough women running my life now, but I guess one more wouldn't hurt. Watch out for my mother, though, if it's a girl. She's mighty tired of buying blue clothes and tin soldiers. She'll go hog wild, if it's a girl. I'll take whatever I get and be satisfied with it, myself. So what do you say, Blossom? I think we better go tell my Dad we've agreed, and we can look for a ring tomorrow. Then you can go back to Bluff City with it on your finger and start showing it off."

She cocked her head and gave me a questioning look. "What if we're wrong about the spirit world? I don't think we are," she said hastily, "but what if we are?"

"Then we'll be able to take our time on the wedding, but it'll all come out the same anyway, won't it? Because I always planned on it being you and me, Blossom. There wasn't any way around it. I've been a fool many times, Blossom. When you weren't with me, I missed you so much I couldn't think straight. I'm never going to let you go again, and that's the truth. If you can forgive me for being a fool, that is. I know you've been trying to. At least I'll be your fool again. So will you marry me or not?" I leaned in and kissed her then, and she kissed me back.

"Yes! The answer is yes!"

We went back to the hotel, and I noticed Blossom was moving awkwardly at first, but I didn't know if it was my fault, or if she was just in shock. She got better after awhile, though. I was relieved to see my dad back from the closing dinner, but not so relieved to see Mike Paulson with him. They were sitting in a lounge near the bar, having a brandy and a smoke. I had kind of wanted to tell him the news right away, but this wasn't the sort of thing you tossed around in front of folks who weren't family.

"Evening, Alexander….Blossom. Where've you two been? You look a might bedraggled." My dad's eyes twinkled and I could see that he at least knew we'd been doing a bit of spooning, if nothing else.

"We went for a walk in Lincoln Park, by the zoo," I offered. "It seemed like a nice night for it."

"It's warm for late spring." Mike agreed. "Probably was pretty quiet over there, though, today being what it is."

"What do you mean?" I didn't understand.

"This town has a large German population, although they're laying pretty low, what with the war and all. There's been heap of persecution, and not all of it deserved. It's Walpurgis Night of course, the day before May Day. The old-time Germans believe witches are about tonight, just like some folks believe they're out the night before All Saints Day. It ties in with some old springtime pagan fertility rite."

"Alexander isn't scared of witches, as far as I can see," my father said, lighting up another one of his Antonio y Cleopatra cigars. "He's studied on them considerably."

"Still," Mike said, helping himself to a bit more brandy, before leaning back in his armchair once more, "you don't get a lot of people walking in Lincoln Park on Walpurgis Night. Besides the witch thing, there's the fact that it used to be a graveyard."

"What!" Blossom went white, and hung onto my arm a little harder. I did my level best to keep her upright and looking as normal as possible.

"It was a cemetery until the Great Fire," said Mike. "Folks even hid in open graves that night, trying to keep from being burnt up. After the fire, when the city was rebuilt, they moved the bodies and it became a park. There's still a few mausoleums left, thought…the Crouch tomb for one. The zoo part had started in 1868, when the New York Central Park Commissioners sent the Lincoln Park Commission a pair of swans. They bought a bear cub for ten dollars in 1874, and built him a bear pit, but the critter used to climb out and go wandering around the park. They put in the sea lion pool in 1889, and those darned things escaped, too. Went right into a restaurant on Clark Street! They caught 'em, all but one. He was last seen sliding off into Lake Michigan. After that they got serious about things, and got the animals settled down, but folks around here still remember the old days. Yes, they do!"

More to distract Blossom than anything else, I decided to let the proverbial cat out of the bag. "Speaking of things being settled, you both can congratulate us!"

"For what?" Dad asked, leaning back comfortably with his cigar.

"Blossom and I are officially engaged! I just asked her to marry me, and she said yes. I was thinking that maybe tomorrow we could go looking for an engagement ring. There seem to be some mighty fine jewelry stores in this town. I was going to use some of the money Uncle Miles left me. I think he'd be right pleased, being as he was so fond of Blossom himself." I talked fast trying to spit it all out before my father had a chance to think.

My dad sat up straight as a board and looked at me as if I'd grown an extra head. Mike gave me the requested congratulations, but had the tact to decide to turn in after that, and wished us all a good night. Dad waited until after he'd gone to light into us.

"Alexander, that's out of the question. Nothing personal, now, Blossom, he added hastily. "You know I am very fond of you. You've got a good head on your shoulders, and you know how to make the best of any situation. You're a darned better bet than some of the other girls who've set their sights on Alexander, including Letty Shambaugh, God bless the poor grieving child, but I can't rightly see what the rush is on this, as much as I hate to see you living alone."

"Thank you for that much, Mr. Armsworth," Blossom said softly.

"Letty Shambaugh was the worst mistake I ever made in my life," I said hotly. "After the way she and her mother treated Ma, I should have known better, and I'm glad Blossom was there to straighten me out, but that's about all I can agree with you on. There's no reason for her to be alone. Blossom has no other family but us, and I can't see why we shouldn't make that legal. We'll be done with school in June, and I turn eighteen in July. Besides the money Uncle Miles left me, I'd planned on staying on with the business." I paused, and then cocked my head at him. "Or have you changed your mind over the last three days? Are you sorry you announced it? Don't you want me working with you any more? Is that it?"

"Alexander," Dad said, "I'm pleased as punch that you've been making such an effort at work, and I'm dead serious about having you come into the business permanently, but I can't say a thing more until we talk to your mother. What she will say about this, I have no idea." He tossed his dead cigar into a brass cuspidor and sighed.

"I'm still going to buy a ring tomorrow," I warned him.

"Why can't you wait until we get home? What's wrong with the jewelry stores in Bluff City? I hear that Les Dawson, rest his soul, got a right nice ring for Letty at Davidson's."

"I'm not buying anything anywhere Les Dawson thought was decent," I replied. "I hate to speak ill of the dead, but if he was smart, he'd have gone to college or learned a trade, instead of going into the Army."

"I think we better all sleep on it," said Blossom, taking me by the arm.

"I'll walk Blossom upstairs," I told my dad, "and see you later." It was powerfully hard to leave Blossom at her door, though. Once I started kissing her good night, I didn't want to stop.

"Good grief, Alexander! Haven't you learned your lesson yet?" She giggled as I slid my lips from her mouth across her cheek and over her ear.

"Brace yourself, girl. Once we get hitched, I'll be on you day and night. I gotta get what I can while I can before you get too big to handle."

"Alexander Armsworth, you're terrible!" Blossom said solemnly, but the smile in her eyes belied her words.

We heard footsteps then. I figured it was dad coming up from the smoking room, and when he turned the corner I was giving Blossom a very prim and proper kiss goodnight for my his benefit. She then shut the door in my face, and I sighed.

It was a long, weary night. My father kept repeating the same thing over and over. We were too young, there was no need to hurry, (Little did he know!) and my mother would skin him and hang him up to dry if he agreed to anything without her say-so. I was getting frustrated. I knew my mother would fuss awhile, and then give in. I was also worried about Blossom. She had seemed all right when I'd left her, but I couldn't help thinking she shouldn't be alone. I should have been with her, holding her and kissing away her fears.

When we finally went to bed, I thought I'd be up all night worrying, but I was out before my head hit the pillow. When I woke up Dad was gone, and I showered up quickly, dressed in my best, and went to knock on Blossom's door.

"Alexander, was I dreaming last night, or was all of that really true?" she asked me as we went down to breakfast.

"Do you have to ask?" I said, linking my fingers through hers the way we had done when we were young.

"Well, I know some of it was true. I can still feel it."

I blushed right to the tips of my ears. I could feel them turning red. After breakfast, we asked the man at the hotel desk if he could point us to a good jewelry store, and he recommended one that wasn't too far away. I bought Blossom a simple diamond ring, with a set of two matching gold bands for later. She picked the smallest stone in the store at first, and I had to talk up a better one.

"Blossom, this is the only time I'm going to do this, so I want to do it right. Let's get you something decent sized. Uncle Miles would want it that way."

When she put on the ring we finally bought, it fit her like a glove. When I slid it on her finger, and then tried on my wedding band, they both were perfectly sized right out of the little velvet box. I took that as a good omen.

"It's funny how cold gold is," Blossom said dreamily. "It looks so warm."

"It'll warm up nice after you wear it awhile. When we get back to Bluff City, it may well make things hot for us. But I'm not sorry." I kissed her right there in front of the jeweler, but I figured he'd seen it all before.

We had a long, quiet trip home to Bluff City. When we arrived, I took Blossom home, before I even unloaded my things. I wanted to be the one to face my mother, and my father was more than willing to let me do it. She actually handled it better than I thought she would.

"Oh, Alexander, are you sure?" was all she said about my engagement.

"Yes, I'm sure," I said firmly.

"Well, a nice long engagement will show whether you and Blossom are meant to be," she said practically, "but I think we'd better have an engagement party, none the less. We will send out invitations, and announce the news to our friends. We want to preserve our dignity."

"I am all for an engagement party," I said, "but I want to have it before graduation. If we wait until the graduation parties start, we won't be able to make much of a showing."

We settled on the last weekend in May, and my mother told me to have Blossom over to the house the next day to start planning it. I could see the wheels turning in my dad's head. If my mother were going to be planning a big party on him, he would probably be spending some long days at the office.

Blossom came to dinner the next night, to show my mother her engagement ring. Mother invited Lucille, Lowell and the boys for ballast. After dinner, she and Lucille began to plan the party. Blossom agreed to let them pretty much do anything they wanted.

"I do not know if your mother will get to plan a wedding the way she wants to, if what we think is true," Blossom admitted to me quietly on the side, "so I think we'd better let her enjoy herself while she can."

More exciting than the prospect of an engagement party was a letter that had arrived for Blossom from England while we had been out of town. Mrs. Birdsall had gotten our message about Mrs. Culp's passing, and had made Blossom an unusual offer. I will include the letter here; since Blossom was kind enough to share it with us all:

Dear Blossom,

We were extremely saddened to hear of the passing of your beloved mother, who did so much to enliven life in Bluff City. You have our deepest sympathies.

Now you are alone, and I was wondering if you might consider doing me a favor. I have been trying to sell or rent my house on Fairview Avenue for some time, but due to extenuating circumstances, of which you are well aware, no one has been interested in taking it over. Mr. Birdsall and I have been paying an agent to keep it up, but I would feel better if someone actually lived there.

I was wondering if you would consider taking it over. As my ward, it would be only fitting for you to have some control over the property. Please let me know if you would like to move into the house, rather than stay alone on Mill Row.

I will send a letter to the agent, asking that the house be prepared for you, and giving you permission to move in, if you so desire. Perhaps Alexander would be willing to take you around to see what sort of state it is in.

Give him my love, and give my kindest regards to his parents, who I'm sure are already like parents to you, which is as it should be.

Sincerely,

Gertrude Dabney Birdsall

"What does 'ward' mean?" asked Lucille, looking over my mother's shoulder at the letter from Mrs. Birdsall.

"When she took me to London, Mama had to sign some kind of paper making Miss Dabney responsible for me," Blossom explained, "in case something happened to us on the trip."

"I remember that," said Lowell. "It was in the Pantagraph. A ward is kind of like an honorary niece, if I remember what she said rightly."

That letter would turn out to be important, in more ways than one. Blossom and I took it to the Realty Company, who were more than glad that there might be a way for them to get shut of the Fairview house. No one would take a second look at it, once they found out about Minerva, the ghost who resided in the kitchen.

Blossom was a bit nervous about telling Minerva about our situation. Minerva was a stickler for propriety, and might well think Blossom and I had shamed her home if it turned out we'd gotten ourselves in a family way before marriage.

We went to see the house after school a few days later. All of the fancy plates, and statues, and other accessories that Miss Dabney had decorated the place with had gone to England to grace her new home, but the furniture was still there, and the agent had removed the sheets that had covered the various pieces. The place looked like it was ready to move into.

As we walked around the back parlor, which Miss Dabney had used for company, we heard a familiar clash of pots in the kitchen, and Blossom decided to get facing Minerva over with. We marched into the kitchen, Blossom leading the way, and saw Minerva standing by the sink. She looked at us with her ghostly, glowing eyes. She was a large raw-boned woman, even in death, and I didn't like to think what she could do to me, if she decided to make my life difficult.

"Hello, Minerva," Blossom began carefully. "Do you remember me? Blossom Culp? How have you been? I expect you've been missing little Gertrude. She has married a fine man, Atlee Birdsall, and gone to live in England, just like she always wanted to do."

Minerva glanced from Blossom to me, and Blossom continued.

"And you remember Alexander Armsworth, don't you? Alexander and I will be getting married soon ourselves, Minerva, and Miss Dabney, that is, Mrs. Birdsall, was thinking of letting us set up housekeeping here, if you'll have us, since she won't be using the house for awhile."

Blossom poked me in the side and I swallowed hard before speaking. "This is still your home, Minerva, and we wouldn't think of trying to turn you out, but if you'd let us share it with you, we'd be much obliged. It would make your Gertrude rest easier in her mind, knowing you aren't here alone no more."

Minerva nodded slowly, and I was much relieved.

Blossom continued on, though. "Alexander and I have been together for a long time, Blossom, and we love each other very much. We kind of jumped the gun, though. We knew we were going to get married eventually, and, well, the fact is, we're pretty sure we're expecting. I hope you won't mind having a youngster in the house, by and by."

Minerva frowned, and looked at me again.

"I know a lot of folks would think poorly of us, Minerva," I said apprehensively, "but the fact is we aim to make a go of it, and we're not ashamed of ourselves. We're happy. I hope you'll be understanding about this, because as much as I want to live here with Blossom, the first thing on my mind is making sure she's safe, and that our baby is safe. If you're not happy with the idea of us being here, I hope you'll find a way to let us know."

Minerva turned away, toward the pump, and seemed to be thinking. Blossom and I looked at each other and shrugged. Leaving Minerva to ruminate on our situation, we walked back down the dark hall hand in hand. A warm, spicy smell came from the parlor, and we looked in.

A shiny, silver teapot was on the table, along with a plate of small, white sandwiches. Another plate held fresh, hot cinnamon buns, even though the stove had been dead cold when we'd been in the kitchen a moment before. A sugar bowl, filled with sugar lumps and a pot of fresh cream sat beside the teapot, along with a pair of cups, saucers and plates. It looked like Minerva wanted us to stay, shame or no shame. Maybe she was lonely.

We sat down and ate her food. I was afraid not to, and made sure to compliment her loudly on her cooking, in case she was listening.

"How does she DO that?" I asked Blossom in a whisper.

"I have no idea, Alexander. Miss Dabney could never figure it out, either, but I never look a gift horse in the mouth."

After we had our tea, we went upstairs to look around. The sound of plates rattling came from behind us, and I gathered Minerva was already busy gathering up the dishes to wash them in her ghostly way. Miss Dabney's bedroom had a fine, high old –fashioned bedstead in it that made me completely forget about Minerva.

"That bed's in for some surprises," I said to Blossom, grinning a bit.

"Oh, you think so?" she answered, looking at me sideways in a teasing way.

"Well, as Miss Dabney never spent a night here as a married woman, yes. There's more to getting married than grief," I replied, and reaching out, I drew her close, and plucked the pins out of her hair, so that it fell down wild and free.

I kissed her, and she kissed me back.


	9. Chapter 9

Chapter Nine: Blossom and the Engagement Party

When Alexander made love to me that day, I just wasn't with him at first. I felt strange and shy. When I had first taken up with Alexander, I'd nearly always been the one in charge. Now we were not just friends, and he was not the little boy he'd been. He was a man, and I was a woman. We were partners and lovers now.

Maybe I was able to see that because it was so different that time. The first time I'd been able to look up at the stars sparkling through green leaves. Now I concentrated on the afternoon sun shining through the window, and the patterns that shadows were making on the wall. Then, slowly, I began to feel differently, and then I was truly with Alexander. I was with him all the way.

When we left the house, we talked a bit about it.

"Could you live in that house for awhile, if we were really to get married?" I asked.

"It would be a good place to start," Alexander said simply. "Anywhere we are together will be home, though."

It was awfully hard to spend the afternoon with him like that, though, and then go back to his house for dinner, and sit with his parents, eating their food.

"Did you go to see the old Dabney House?" Alexander's father asked.

"Yes," said Alexander, talking like a true construction worker. "It's not in bad shape. It's kind of dark in the halls, and nothing has been done to it in an age, but it's a well-built house. It'll probably stand for a hundred more years. It needs paint for sure."

"It needs a new kitchen, I would expect," said Mrs. Armsworth.

"I don't think we'd want to mess with the kitchen," I said hastily, thinking of Minerva. "I would only be using it. It wouldn't be right to make any big changes, at least without Mrs. Birdsall's saying it's all right. We should be hearing from her soon. We wrote to her about our engagement. Maybe she'll have some more to say about the house. I still don't feel comfortable making any permanent changes, though, without her permission."

"I suppose you're right," said Mrs. Armsworth, as she passed me the fried chicken. "How do you feel about going to live there, though?"

"It has advantages and disadvantages," I answered. "It's nicer than where I am now, and probably safer, I'll admit. It would be a help to the Birdsalls, though, to have someone living there. It's sat empty for a long, long time. I would be farther away from you all, though, and I'd miss you."

"Oh, I think we'd still see you often enough," Mr. Armsworth said with a smile that made me feel good again.

"I couldn't just come running across the yard," though," I pointed out.

"I would hope you would not find yourself in any situations at the Dabney house where you would have to run out at all," Alexander's mother replied. "We'll help you see the place set right and made suitable to live in, of course." She then changed the subject and began to talk about the adorable cakes she had ordered for the engagement party.

Mr. Armsworth let Alexander have a couple of men to help him paint the Dabney house, so it would be ready for me to move into, and it did look a whole lot better after that. Minerva even stayed out of their way, for which I was very grateful. I moved in two days before the engagement party. I was busier than a one-armed paper-hanger that week. Alexander and I had lots of schoolwork to do, being as we were getting close to graduation, and the engagement party plans were going full speed.

I was having a new dress made, and had to have a final fitting for it. It was a cream-colored dress, trimmed with tatting that Mrs. Wysock had made herself. Tatting, which is a way of making lace, is known as the poor man's lace. That's because it takes so long to do, you can't get rich making it. I thought it was very dressy looking, though, and asked Mrs. Wysock if she could teach me to do it. She was thrilled at the thought. All I needed to tat, she said, was a shuttle and a ball of thread, and she promised to get me started in on the lessons right after the party. Mrs. Armsworth, who was not into that kind of thing, although she was pleased with the way the dress was coming along, just kept asking me questions about the decorations, and telling me about who had responded and who had not.

She wanted to hire a girl special to serve the refreshments, and I begged her to just let Gladys do it. Hiring another servant would remind me of Mama, who had spent many a day piling fancy food on trays in the Armsworth kitchen. I also knew it hurt Gladys' feelings when they kept her in the back of the house at parties. She wasn't what Mrs. Armsworth considered a proper person to have on display, but I knew it would mean a lot to Gladys if she were able to circulate that afternoon. Mr. Armsworth backed me up, but for other reasons. The party was getting expensive and he couldn't see paying another person just to stand around with a tray. He is practical to a fault, and I can't blame him for that. Gladys was pleased as punch with both of us.

I had packing and sorting to do, even if I didn't have much to move. We just used Alexander's old Mercer instead of hiring a moving van. I took Mama's cards, and her old fortune telling shawl for good luck, and some of our family papers. I carefully packed the framed picture of Alexander and me at the Junior Ring Dance, and my clothes.

Alexander had given me a pretty wooden jewelry box as an engagement present. He had picked it out for my birthday, but had not been able to give it to me then. There was nothing in it but my pearl pin and Inez Dumaine's hair flower brooch that I'd gotten when Alexander and I had gone to New Orleans. Before we left the shack, though, I had reached under the mattress and got out the picture Jeremy's mother had taken the night of the Winter Formal.

Alexander saw me pull it out, and asked to see it, so I let him.

"This is a picture like they take in the 1980s?" Alexander asked me, as I extended it. Then he looked at it carefully, and looked surprised. "Why he's just a kid!"

"Younger than us, " I admitted, and I finally told Alexander the whole story about Heather, and how lonely Jeremy had been, and how I had helped him see that he needed friends.

He handed the picture back to me, with a guilty look on his face. There wasn't nothing more to say as I slid the picture into the box. As we were putting my things into the Mercer, we saw Brent McCallister sitting in front of his shack, He was across the trail, but we could see him in his doorway.

"Moving up in the word, ain't you Blossom?" Brent called to me. "You think the Armsworth money and that rich lady's house make you something special? Well, take it from me, they don't make you nothing." He shook his head then, and took a long swig out of a pint bottle.

"Why aren't you at work, Brent?" Alexander asked sharply.

"You think just cause your daddy's got money that you can run the rest of us?" Brent drawled. "You don't run me, Mister Alexander Armsworth. I do what I please when I please, which is more than I can say for you. Yore pa has got you harnessed like a mule."

Alexander looked angry, but I quickly laid my hand on his arm and told him to forget it. We all knew Brent was out of his head half the time. Alexander agreed not to cause a scene saying anything else to Brent, but swore he was going to have a word with his father about Brent's attitude.

We drove to the Fairview House in silence, and after Alexander had the Mercer parked in front of the place, he helped me unload my things and carry them in. I put the picture of me and Alexander in the sitting room, and hung my clothes in the closet. The house was dead quiet. Apparently Minerva wasn't up to any ghostly baking or any other activity on this day. When we had everything unpacked, I turned to Alexander with a sigh.

"Brent McCallister isn't any different than anyone else in this town, Alexander. They all think here that I don't know my place, and that I'm after you for your money. That's what you get for picking a poor girl. Bluff City knows you could do better."

"Bluff City doesn't know anything," Alexander said. "I love you for who you are, and for who I am when we're together, not for what you have or don't have." He drew me into his arms, and I thought I knew how the afternoon was going to end, but I was only partly right.

It was quite some time later, when I was lying in Alexander's arms, under a soft down comforter that was almost as warm as his skin against mine, that we began to talk about what had happened in Chicago again. I still didn't feel any different, and it was hard to get used to the idea that we were going to have a child together.

"Do you know anything yet, Blossom?"

"Alexander," I said truthfully, "I've been waiting all week, and I am definitely late. I'm afraid we're stuck, and I don't mind admitting, I'm scared."

"You know I don't mind being stuck with you," Alexander said, opening his eyes and looking right into mine. "Don't be scared. We'll be all right together. As soon as graduation's over, we can go get a license, and go over to the judge's office downtown and get married. I promised my dad I'd graduate first, but after that, I'm all yours. I'll take care of you."

"I'm not scared about marrying you. I'm scared about having this baby. Bluff City is still going to have a fine time at our expense, and besides that, I can't help worrying about how this baby will turn out. I hope it's all right."

"Blossom, that spirit said she was giving you a gift. When someone gives a gift, they don't send anything but the best they can. I'm sure it'll be fine."

That made sense and pleased me very much. I snuggled up closer to Alexander, laying my head on his chest. I was enjoying the feel of his arms around me, and the sound of his heart beating. Then I heard another kind of noise coming from downstairs.

"Maybe Minerva is making lunch," Alexander said, nuzzling his lips against my hair.

"You wish," I said, smiling, and lifting my face to kiss him.

It wasn't Minerva making that noise, though. We heard a gasp from the bedroom doorway, and saw Gladys, the Armsworth's hired girl, standing there, looking like she'd just seen ten ghosts, instead of two teenagers, who were obviously buck naked, under a comforter.

"Alexander Armsworth! Shame on you! What will your Ma say about this! You two get dressed and get yourselves downstairs this instant!" Face flaming, Gladys marched out of the room.

"Oh, gee whiz!" Alexander whined, as he tends to do when he's under a lot of pressure.

We were downstairs in record time. Gladys was sitting on a straight-backed chair in the front hall near the grandfather clock, looking grim.

"Gladys," Alexander said in a faltering voice, "what are you doing here?"

"Your ma sent me over with some things for Blossom. She figured there wasn't anything left in the kitchen for her to get started with." She indicated a couple of big baskets at her feet. "There's a pound of good coffee, some flour, sugar, and spices…just a few basic things. I knew you were here because I saw the Mercer, so I just walked in. I never expected to walk into anything like THAT, though! I am ashamed of the both of you!"

"Gladys," I said in a placating voice, "you aren't going to really tell Alexander's ma, are you? What good would that do? It won't change anything. You'd just get her all worked up, and right before the engagement party, too."

'What you're doing ain't right," Gladys said, but not as firmly as before.

"We love each other, and we're going to get married. Alexander is all I've got. Can't you see that?" I said in a pleading way.

"No, I can't see. You two kids can't wait…always have to jump the gun. I should have known! I won't tell your ma," she said looking at Alexander, exasperated, "but you had just better be careful. What if she'd come with me like she wanted to at first? You'd worry ten years off her life, if she knew what you were up to in here."

Gladys was getting up a fine had of steam and there was no stopping her.

"Has this been going on a long time?" she continued, glaring at Alexander. "Are you being careful, or are we going to see another premature baby on the way soon? I wouldn't be surprised. Well, iffen there was," she said, looking over at me sternly, "at least you wouldn't be the first Bluff City girl to go to the altar pregnant, and probably not the last, either."

Alexander squirmed and stuttered at that, but I spoke up quickly. "This is just since Chicago," I said, deciding that part of the truth was better than a total lie at this point. "If she finds that out, then Mr. Armsworth will be in his wife's bad graces, too, and she might put you back in the kitchen for the party just to spite us. So I'm glad you aren't going to tell."

She considered this and could see my point, "Oh, well, most first babies are premature anyway aren't they? And the rest always show up on time." She sighed. "I'd better get back before yore ma comes looking for me and finds all of us." She got up from the chair. "Put those things in the kitchen and bring the baskets home for me in the car, Alexander."

She headed out the door, straightening her shawl and muttering about how she didn't know what the world was coming to.

Alexander looked at me and shook his head. "Blossom Culp, you are the biggest blackmailer I have ever met."

"Let's put the groceries away, Alexander."

As we did that, I could almost see Alexander's mind working. Finally he spoke. "Blossom, how many kids do you want? We never talked about it. It's strange. We had a choice to be anything we wanted to be, and now we don't. I don't mind that, because it's something I would have chosen anyway, but what about later on?"

"Aren't you the one who told me whatever happens will just happen?" I asked.

"Well, there's ways around it." Alexander could still blush all the way up to the tips of his ears when the subject deserved it. "I asked around and found out."

"Tell me about it," I said, so he did. I considered what he was saying. I'd heard of such things, but never seen one. I thought about it, then finally answered, "Ask me after we have this one, and I'll have a better idea of how I handle it."

Mrs. Wysock came to the Fairview house with my dress the day of the party to help me get dressed, and the cream gown looked beautiful. I decided right then that I was going to wear this dress when Alexander and I went to the judge's office to get married. I might not be able to have a big wedding, but I was going to be married in a pretty dress.

Alexander came fairly early to pick me up, and he was in a new suit that made him look very distinguished. I told him how handsome he looked, but he went on even longer about how beautiful I looked. I could always count on Alexander to compliment me when I needed a boost of courage. As we were riding in the Mercer down Fairview Avenue going to the party, I asked him, "Alexander, if we get married in a judge's office, can we still have a wedding picture?"

"I guess so," he answered, startled by the question. "We could just nip over to Ledbetter's Studio afterwards and get one made. Why do you ask?"

"Because I want you to wear that suit when we get married and I want to wear this dress. This is how I want to remember us looking, because I think we make a mighty fine pair this way."

"My mother will probably take pictures of us at the party in these clothes, with her box camera," Alexander said.

"It's not the same," I replied. "I want a real wedding picture."

"I guess you'll just have to have one, then," said Alexander, leaning over and kissing my nose, as we waited for a delivery wagon to pass us by.

For Lucille's coming out party, the Armsworth's had tried to put up a pavilion to serve the punch in, but it had fallen down not long afterwards. They'd held her engagement party in their house and her wedding reception in the bottom of the Episcopal Church.

For Alexander's engagement party to me, they had just put up a canopy tent between the flower beds to serve as a place to keep the punch. We were supposed to receive the guests on the porch, and then direct them down to the tent, where Mrs. Armsworth's cousin, Elvera Schumate, who was quite close to the family, would be in charge of the punch, as usual. There would be little cakes in there, too, like the ones they had ordered for Lucille's party. They were called petit fours, and Gladys, who had gotten a nice, new, black dress, lace cap, and apron for the occasion, was to circulate with a tray, offering seconds on them. She gave me several dark looks, but kept her promise and held her tongue.

One of the first people to arrive was Mrs. Van Deeter, and I was thrilled to see her Cadillac in the lane. Mrs. Van Deeter is a lady of quality, and had been a loyal friend. She gave me a kiss on the cheek, and gave Alexander a hug. She also gave us a handsome cream colored envelope, that just matched my dress, and I was curious as to what was in it, but we didn't get to open any of our cards then. We had a big white box that was decorated with ribbons to look like a giant present, on the porch to put them into, and a plank table for engagement gifts. Most of the Armsworth's friends came, including the Hochhuths, the Breckenridges and the Beasleys.

A lot of girls from school came, not to honor me, or wish Alexander the best, but to satisfy their curiosity. I was ready for them. I knew for a fact my dress was beautiful, my ring was impressive, and Alexander was mine forever. They could choke on all that, for all I cared.

Most of Alexander's friends from the fraternity came, and they lured him off the porch as soon as the receiving was over and they could safely do so without incurring Luella Armsworths's wrath. I saw them at the corner of the house, slapping Alexander on the back. Someone (I couldn't see who!) produced a small flask from underneath his coattails, and I knew the party was well and truly on. I went over to Lucille, and we began to reminisce about the time she had caught me kissing Alexander under the porch at her coming-out party.

"I could tell right then that Alexander was sweet on you, Blossom," said Lucille, looking fondly down into the snowball bushes.

"That was the day we met," Lowell remarked, looking dreamily at Lucille.

"You were so wonderful that day," said Lucille to her husband, dramatically. "You were my hero."

Lowell had tossed Lucille's drunken beau, Tom Hackett, out of that party for Mrs. Armsworth, but I heard from Alexander later that Tom had returned later that night and Lucille had almost taken him back, but I decided not to remind either of them of that.

The party was a great success, and we received quite a bit in engagement presents. Most of the folks gave us money, which Mrs. Armsworth said we should save for the wedding. Alexander and I just looked at each other and shrugged when she said that. We hadn't the heart yet to tell her we weren't in any shape for a big wedding.

After the party Alexander and I buckled down to school so we could graduate with style. The graduation ceremony was held at the high school about three weeks after the engagement party. I wore my cream dress, figuring I might as well get the most use out of it I could. Mr. and Mrs. Armsworth, and Lucille and Lowell came to see us graduate. Lucille had left the boys with Gladys, and I wondered what the Armsworth house would look like when we got home, as Gladys was getting too old to keep up with two little ones like that.

It was the fashion that year for the girls to wear flower corsages in the graduation procession. I hadn't bought myself one, thinking it foolish for a girl to buy herself flowers. I knew Alexander hadn't bought one either, since he had nothing of the kind with him when he picked me up in the Mercer to take me over to the high school. He probably hadn't even thought of it. When we arrived, though, his family was already there, and Joe Armsworth had a corsage of white rosebuds in his hand for me.

"Oh, Mr. Armsworth, You shouldn't have," I said, pleased and proud. Then I saw the card on the flowers. It had Mama's mark on it, the mark she always made when she was told to sign her name. I looked at Mr. Armsworth in wonder. "How…"

"Blossom," he said gently, "when we all went to court that day, your mother stopped me in the hall afterwards and gave me some money and that card. She told me to buy you a corsage for graduation, in case she wasn't up to it."

Tears spilled out of my eyes, Alexander gave me a hug, and Lucille handed me a handkerchief. We didn't have to say anything else. We all understood each other perfectly.

Once graduation was over, Alexander went to work for his father full time. They were well into their busy season and things had gotten even more complicated when they'd had to let Brent McCallister go. I had seen it coming. Brent was drunk nearly all the time now and swearing about the government killing his son, and the flour mill making his wife too sick to survive. Brent was suspicious of everyone and everything when he got into one of his moods.

He'd spent two days in jail in May for shooting flagpoles off various buildings in town and was just not reliable at all anymore. The building crews were tired of him either not showing up, or showing up three sheets to the wind and leaving after a few hours. It was a sorry situation.

While Alexander was working, I started going over to Mrs. Wysock's house to learn how to tat. It took me three hours just to learn to make the basic double knot, but once I had that down, I caught on quickly. I wanted to learn to make lace edging. She suggested that I make some for a wedding veil, and promised to help me put it all together. I gently told her that I would rather make it for a Christening dress, and bless her heart, she understood at once, but never said a word about it to anyone that I know of.

Mrs. Wysock wasn't telling anyone, and Gladys wasn't telling anyone, but Alexander and I knew we were going to have to tell his family something soon. I was already two months along. Nothing showed yet, but it was only a matter of time.

"After my birthday," Alexander said decisively when I brought up the subject one day after we had spent the afternoon making love in the Fairview house. "I don't expect my parents to give us too much trouble, but I will be eighteen then, and if we have to I can get married without their permission when I'm eighteen. It's just one more month, Blossom."

"But I won't be eighteen until February," I told him. "What am I going to do?"

"Oh, Blossom, everyone in town knows your parents have passed on. Under the circumstances, I don't expect anyone to get in our way."

I gave it some thought, though, and began to form a backup plan, based on the letter of congratulations I had gotten from Mr. and Mrs. Birdsall, and other papers I had. Mrs. Birdsall had told us that the engagement was no surprise to her, that she'd been expecting it, and that she wished us every happiness. She also said that she hoped we'd continue to live in the house on Fairview Avenue, and asked us how we'd feel about getting it as a wedding present. We decided to give that some thought.


	10. Chapter 10

Chapter Ten: Alexander and the Big News

After graduation, I just pitched into work and tried to hang on until my birthday. I had a birthday party on the fourth of July. It was nice, but Blossom and I knew we had to let the cat out of the bag soon, so we didn't tease each other like we used to, and we didn't get as much pleasure from shooting off fireworks as we usually did. She was three months along now, and nervous as a cat.

"You said you'd make a decision on getting married after your birthday," she told me, as I took her home. "What's it going to be, Alexander? Do you want to marry me or don't you?"

"We can go get the license tomorrow," I told her firmly, giving her a long kiss. "Now that I'm eighteen, there's nothing anyone can do to stop me. I don't' know if my Dad would have tried, or my mother either, but now it's a sure bet."

When I went home, I found my mother and sister cleaning up the last of the party things, while Dad and Lowell enjoyed one last cigar before bedtime. I told them I had something to say, and I wanted them all to come in and hear it. When I said it, I nearly gave my mother a heart attack, just announcing that Blossom and I were going for a marriage license the next day, and would be married over the weekend like that. My mother tried for an hour to convince me to have a church wedding, but I argued her down.

"This isn't like Lucille's wedding to Lowell," I argued. "The bride's family usually does the fussing and Blossom doesn't have any family. Why rub it in? We'd rather save our money to fix up the house. I'm done with school and working full time. I'm sure Blossom is the one for me. I just want to go get married and be done with it."

I looked over at my father. "You can't tell me you want to make a big production out of this. You pert near lost your mind the last time there was a wedding in the works."

He allowed that he could see my point that there wasn't nearly as much cause to fuss since I was the groom and not the bride, and Lucille to my surprise, backed us up. I think she was worried about how she'd handle her family and help my mother plan a wedding at the same time. She was a lot fonder of Blossom than she used to be, but she still had trouble at times adjusting to the fact that Blossom and I were really going to spend the rest of our lives together, in the same orbit as hers. Finally my mother gave up, and Lucille and Lowell took off, after they promised to come to see us get married.

When Blossom came over the next day, my mother started right in on her. Since she wasn't getting the chance to throw a big wedding, my mother insisted on making plans to take us out to eat afterwards. Blossom was overwhelmed when she heard that. She had expected to just go off, get married and go home.

"I just don't see what I've done to deserve a party," she said to me as I took her home.

"Well, I can't tell my mother that. Just let her get what pleasure she can out of this," I said simply.

"When are we going to tell her about the baby?" asked Blossom.

"After the wedding will do," I answered.

When we went to get the license, the clerk was a woman who'd known my dad for years, and she smiled to see me. When I told her what I was there for, however, she got a pained look on her face.

"My land! I know better than any everything you and Blossom have been through together, but how old are you, Alexander? Do you have Mr. Armsworth's permission?"

"I do, but I don't need it. I'm eighteen now, "I said. My mother had given me my birth certificate, and I set it on the counter.

The clerk looked at it, and then looked at Blossom. "Is she eighteen? We have statutes in this state forbidding the marriage of minor children. This is Illinois, not Georgia, you know."

"I'll be eighteen in February. My mama can't give me permission, because she's passed on, and so has my paw, and you know it, Vivian. You're one of the folks who worried about me being on my own when Mama passed. Well, if I marry Alexander, I'll have a family again, and you can quit worrying," Blossom said firmly.

"But I can't issue you a license if you're underage and don't have a parent or a guardian's permission."

I got disgusted. "Vivian, please! We have to get married!"

She blinked at me, shot a quick glance at Blossom, who was digging in her handbag, and turned bright red.

"Did you say…you HAVE to?"

Blossom at that moment came up with several pieces of paper, which she put on the counter.

"When I went to London with Miss Dabney, Mama gave her guardianship of me," said Blossom, pointing out one paper. "I have this one that that Mama signed, and it was witnessed proper. Miss Dabney paid a right sum of money to get it done the correct way, so she wouldn't have any trouble taking me out of the country. I also have this clipping from the Pantagraph that was printed at the time, stating I was Miss Dabney's ward. Now, Miss Dabney is Mrs. W. Altee Birdsall now, but as far as I know, I'm still her ward. I have two letters from her, all the way from war-torn England, that mention me and Alexander. She not only approves of the marriage she's planning on giving us her house as a wedding gift, which she has been letting me use already. So how can you say I don't have permission from a guardian?"

Vivian looked over everything Blossom had piled up, and sighed with relief. "I suppose it will do. I'll make note that your legal guardian is out of the country, but gave you permission in writing." She took down the information for the license, and stamped it to make it legal.

"When are you getting married?" she asked, handing it over.

"Soon," I replied.

"Well, I should hope so! Good luck to the both of you."

Blossom practically hugged that license all the way home.

"I can't believe it's really happening. I can't believe we're getting married!"

"If nothing else goes wrong," I muttered under my breath. We spent the rest of the night driving back and forth between my parent's house and the Fairview house with my things. I only left at home what I would need in the morning. Once we left that wedding ceremony, I wanted to have all of my things at the new house so I could make a clean break and start living with Blossom right away. I was not going to spend the night before the wedding with Blossom. She felt that would be bad luck.

Lucille insisted on picking Blossom up the morning of the wedding, because she said it wasn't proper for me to see the bride before the ceremony.

"Oh, sugar!" I said when she proposed this. "Like I haven't already seen all there is to see of Blossom! And she saw all there was to see of me when we were fourteen!"

This was true, because Blossom and her friend, Daisy-Rae, had once spied on me and my friends swimming in the altogether, out at the old swimming hole. Daisy-Rae's folks were migrant workers, and she and her brother Roderick, had gone off with them picking fruit and never come back. I often wondered what happened to her. My mother didn't know any of this, though, and looked down her nose at me.

"Please, Alexander, I don't want to hear any such things from you. I have had just about all I can take! I am trying to take the high road in this situation, but you are not making it any easier."

I gave up. I had gotten Blossom a bouquet of white roses, which had sort of become our flower, and I gave it to Lucille to give to her, and rode to the courthouse in the Mercer alone. My parents followed me in their Ford. We arrived about ten, which was good, since they were only open until noon on Saturday.

Lowell soon drove up, and when Blossom got out, holding the flowers, she looked beautiful. We went in, and I soon found the right doorway. It said: J. P. Breckenridge and had Justice of the Peace under it. Under that it said Notary Public. We are efficient in Bluff City government without a doubt.

A woman clerk came toward us, and asked us for the license. "The judge will need to see it," she explained. Then she asked us to wait.

I didn't expect any trouble from Mr. Breckenridge, because he and my dad go back a long way together, and he and his wife had come to the engagement party and given Blossom and me a set of silver candlesticks.

After a few minutes, he came in, and after greeting my dad with a cuff on the shoulder, and shaking my hand, he and the clerk got us all lined up. Then Mr. Breckenridge got out his book with the marriage ceremony in it, and turned to the right page. Looking up, he paused and evaluated the grouping, shaking his head, as if something was wrong. He reached out and took Blossom's flowers and asked Lucille to hold onto them for the time being.

"I believe we're ready now." Since no one contradicted him, he told me to take Blossom's hand and I did.

I was in a daze. Nothing he was saying sunk in until he said, "Do you, Alexander Miles Armsworth, take Blossom Lavinia Culp to be your lawful wedded wife?"

I grinned down at her. "I do."

"Do you, Blossom Lavinia Culp, take Alexander Miles Armsworth to be your lawful wedded husband?"

"I do, I do, yes!" said Blossom excitedly. "I better!"

That made us all laugh. The rings slid on just as easily as they had done at the jewelry store in Chicago, and when it came time to kiss the bride, I really laid one memorable kiss on her. Lowell whistled and I heard Lucille huff.

"Honestly, Alexander!"

When I looked up, however, she was smiling.

"Shoot, Lucille, you were there for the first one, weren't you? I just wanted to show you how much I'd improved."

Blossom cuffed me on the arm, and my mother turned red again.

"I think we had better get over to the hotel for lunch," she said uncertainly.

"Oh, not yet," I said. "We're going to Ledbetter's. Blossom and I want wedding pictures made, and we want them of everyone."

While Blossom and I signed the marriage certificate, and Lucille and Lowell were signing as the witnesses, my dad paid the clerk the two dollars for the ceremony, which was decent of him. We had a good time at Ledbetter's Studio, getting enough pictures to fill a whole album. Blossom took the plainest book they had there and I started to object, until she said she had to have that one because she was going to tat a lace cover for it.

We got a picture of all of us, a picture of us with my mother and dad, a picture of us with Lucille and Lowell, a couple of different pictures of us alone, a picture of Mother and Dad alone…you name it.

Blossom was thrilled. "I've never had a family photograph album before."

Mr. Ledbetter was thrilled to have the business. Most people just got one picture and that was it. While we were there, he let slip that his son, Collis, who had gone to school with us, was now engaged to Maisie Markham.

"Oh, my!" said Blossom. "Congratulations!"

On the way over to the Abraham Lincoln Hotel, where we were going to eat lunch, we discussed the news. Since Collis Ledbetter has always been the smallest kid in our class, and Maisie Markham was a hefty girl, we had a lot of comments to make that my mother didn't exactly appreciate.

"I'd hate to drop by after the wedding night," I said. "They'll probably have to dig poor Collis out of the cellar."

"To tell you the truth," Lucille said, almost whispering, "I didn't think he liked girls, if you know what I mean."

My father said that was enough, that he wished the happy couple well, and that we should do the same, and could we please change the subject?

At the hotel we had a nice luncheon, with everyone picking anything they wanted off the menu. We also had champagne, which went straight to my head. After lunch, my parents asked if they could see how the Fairview house had turned out. They hadn't seen it since the painters had left, and Lucille and Lowell were curious, too. So we all went there.

To our amazement, when we walked into the parlor, we found an iced wedding cake and a pot of fresh coffee waiting for us, with fresh cream and a sugar bowl on the side. There were six cups, saucers, forks, and small plates all laid out, ready to use. It was small, round cake, and instead of writing or little figures on the top, there was a hole cut into the top of the cake, with a glass sitting in it. The glass held white roses like the ones in Blossom's bouquet. We all agreed that we'd never seen the like.

"Oh, Alexander, this is just lovely! Who did this?" my mother exclaimed. "I can't believe you'd think of such a thing!"

Blossom could tell by my face that I'd had nothing to do with it.

"He didn't. It was a friend who was just glad to see us get married," she said quickly, and I didn't contradict her. Obviously Minerva was relieved that I'd kept my promise to make an honest woman out of Blossom. It was one of the better cakes I've ever had, and I would have given almost anything to figure out how she managed to make it. As nervous as my second sight made me, if we had to have a ghost in the house, I did think that a baking ghost was the most tolerable.


	11. Chapter 11

Blossom and Married Life

After we had our cake and coffee, Alexander and I showed his family around the house. Mrs. Armsworth just loved the rag rugs we'd put down, and Lucille couldn't say enough about the furniture Miss Dabney had left behind for us. Mr. Armsworth tried again to talk us into remodeling the kitchen, but we managed to convince him we weren't ready to do that yet.

Minerva stayed out of sight while the Seaforths and Armworths got their tour, which was a good thing. I'd never have been able to explain Minerva to Mrs. Armsworth. She don't hold much with the spirit world.

Alexander's family had one more piece of cake each, finished the last of the coffee and finally left. I looked at Alexander as he shut the door. I was still filled with wonder. I looked down and began to admire my wedding ring.

"I can't believe it's over! I can't believe the judge just had to say a few words, we had to sign a paper, and that meant we were married. It took us longer to decide what we wanted to eat at the restaurant than it did to get married."

He gave me a long look. "Blossom, are you regretting that you didn't get a big wedding? Because it's a fine time to be changing your mind about that."

I laughed. "No, I am not regretting that. I just don't feel married. I feel the same way I always feel around you."

"Why don't you come upstairs with me, and I'll see if I can make you feel married. It might be different now that it's legal."

"Alexander, you're just terrible!"

"Does that mean you aren't coming?"

"Certainly not," I said primly, and sailed up the stairs feeling like a queen. I knew Alexander was watching the swing of my hips in that cream colored dress all the way up, and when we got to our bedroom, as much as I liked seeing myself in it, in the full length looking glass that Miss Dabney had put up on the closet door, I wanted it off at the same time. Alexander had no qualms about taking it off me, either, and let me tell you…he managed to prove to me, in the most primitive way possible, that I was really his wife.

He was much better at undressing me than he had been at first. His fingers were still slow, but more sure, and could unbutton a button as lightly as a spring breeze, and now when he slipped out hairpins, they hardly ever got caught.

The sun was just setting when he lowered me to the bed, and the room was filled with a golden glow. It was the same as it had been the other times, but different, too. The desire was there, the impatient hunger, but along with that was the knowledge that we belonged together, the wonder of the feelings we understood in each other, and the needs that we could meet.

Being able to make love to him, and then spend the night with him was one of the fine points of marriage, but there were other advantages. I knew after only two days that I liked having him come home to me. Within a week, we had a morning routine down. I'd come down and start the coffee, and he'd get dressed and go out onto the porch and get the paper. I liked it when Alexander would read it, picking out certain things to read aloud, giving us a chance to discuss the high points of the news. After Alexander went to work in the mornings, I liked rearranging things in the house, tidying up and going out to get the mail, finding letters addressed to Mr. and Mrs. Alexander Armsworth.

While he was at work, I found myself thinking of things to talk about with him when he came home. He was always good natured when it came to my stories about how my tatting was going, or what the butcher had to say when I called him out on a mistake in his prices. Alexander was always full of stories about the men on the crew, what the manager of the lumber mill had to say, or what jobs he and his father were trying to land.

We went to Alexander's parent's house for dinner at least once a week that first month, and when I got tired of cleaning house and didn't feel like shopping or reading, I used to go call on Mrs. Armsworth. She was always glad to see me, but I was starting to get nervous. I'd already had to move the buttons on my skirts. Soon the baby was going to really start showing, and she was going to realize that Alexander and I'd had an ulterior motive for out quick wedding. We were going to have to tell her and Mr. Armsworth soon, but Alexander and I just didn't know how.

I dropped in for lunch on a Monday just over a month after the wedding, and Mrs. Armsworth put out quite a spread. I was eating for two, and so I was glad to have it. We had just finished our coffee, and were getting ready to sample some sugar cookies that Gladys had brought out, when one of Mr. Armsworth's foremen came pounding on the door, with a fearful tale to tell. Mr. Armsworth and Alexander had been meeting with all of their foremen, going over the plans for the week's work, when Brent McCallister had forced his way into the office with a gun. He'd told the secretary and the foremen to get out, and they had. Alexander had refused to leave his pa, and now they were holed up in the office with McCallister. The last thing the foremen had heard was Brent yelling at Joe Armsworth that he had nothing left to lose, and if he was going, he was going to take Joe and Alexander with him.

Mrs. Armsworth and I dropped our cups and went with the foreman, who drove us down to Eldorado Street. The whole area was blocked off and the sheriff and his men were outside the building, but they were afraid to go in, in case Brent started shooting. They were also afraid not to go in, in case he started shooting. It was a sorry situation.

I stood on the street with Alexander's mother, who was weeping like a crazed woman.

"My husband! My son! Oh, Lord, am I going to lose them both? I can't bear it. I can't bear to lose them and have nothing left of my only son. Oh, Lord, what will I do?"

I gently drew her back. The tears were sliding down my own cheeks. The time had come for drastic action. I held her in my arms, and said softly, "Mrs. Armsworth, we have to pray that they'll be fine. It may still work out all right. We don't know any different, but you can't lose Alexander, not really." I swallowed hard and gave her the truth. "We wanted to tell you and Mr. Armsworth when you were both together, but now I don't know how long it will be until you are both together, so I'll tell you now. I have part of Alexander with me. There's going to be…a child."

She stared at me transfixed.

"A child? So soon? Are you sure?"

"I'm sure. I'm nearly four months along. I know most folks will say it was wrong, but I believe things happen for a reason. Brent McCallister can't take all of Alexander away from us, even if he tries. I have Alexander's child, and I pray you'll forgive me for the way things turned out."

She held me close and pressed her wet cheek to mine. "Oh, Blossom, that does comfort me. You are my daughter now and always will be. No matter what happens, we'll be family."

"Yes, Mother!" I whispered, and I never called Luella Armsworth anything else again.

We continued to stand in the street, looking up at the building, thinking of the father and grandfather to be, and praying that we'd see them alive again. Lowell and Lucille showed up. A newspaperman to the bone, Lowell had alerted his reporters first, and then gone to get his wife. Alexander's mother told them what I had told her, and they both looked solemn.

"It will be all right, Blossom," Lucille said, joining in our hug. "I can't believe God will take them away from us when we need them so much."

"I hope not," I said wearily, and wondered what was going on inside those rooms above our heads.


	12. Chapter 12

12 Alexander and the Most Eventful Days

When Brent McCallister burst into the office with that gun, I like to have dropped ten pounds, and my dad went pretty white. When McCallister chased out the others, I never even though of leaving my dad, although he gave me a slight push on the back as the foremen began to herd out of the room eyeing McCallister's gun with apprehension.

"I'm not going without you," I whispered quietly.

"Alexander," my father said, just as quietly, "your life is just beginning. Do the best you can with it."

I just shook my head. McCallister slammed the door and looked back at us. "You done let me go, and now I got nothing left to lose. I lost my job, and I lost my family. You got all that money, and your pretty family, with the children and the grandchildren, and you think you're something special, Joe Armsworth, but you can lose it all just as quick as I did, even quicker."

"Now, Brent, let's sit down and talk about this," said my dad. "This ruckus isn't going to get your son back, or your wife or your folks, either. But we might be able to do something about your job."

"What do you know about my son?" McCallister shouted. He looked at me and waved the gun under my nose. He smelled powerfully of whiskey and his hair was standing on end. He looked back at Dad. "The government didn't get your boy like it got mine. He ain't crawling through a trench in France fighting other folks' battles. He ain't lying under no cross in a foreign land, where you can't even go and pay your respects. At least your kin will know where you lie."

"Your son was a hero," I said quietly. "He died a man, for a cause he chose."

"I never wanted no hero," McCallister wailed. "I just wanted my boy. He was all I had. I had nothing else left of my Mandy. I lost my Mandy, and I lost my boy. You don't know what it's like!"

"Brent, I do, at least a little," I said carefully. "Haven't I got Blossom, and don't I love her to death? I know what it's like to love a girl from your side of the tracks. There's nothing like them. They have grit, and loving them is worth it, no matter how it turns out. They can change your life for the better, do you let them. Don't let what happened to you change it for the worse. Having Mandy was worth it, wasn't it? I know I'd take on any trouble just to have Blossom."

"I remember Mandy, Brent," added my father. "She wouldn't want to see you this way."

"She's with the boy now," Brent mumbled, pacing around the room. "She's with the boy, and that is some comfort, but somebody's still gotta pay. You can go with your boy, and then it'll be over. There will be nothing left of your name, like there's nothing left of mine."

"The name doesn't matter, Brent. We're all the same inside," I said, "and if you do this, you'll be hurting more folks than us. How does making someone else unhappy make you happy? You'll be hurting your own kind. You wouldn't be stopping the name anyway, if that's what you really want. Blossom's in the family way. There will be another Armsworth, no matter what you do to us. You'd just be leaving Blossom to carry on alone. Don't do that, Brent. She needs me. Why do you want to hurt her? What's she done to you?"

I heard my father's sharp intake of breath at that, but I didn't look at him. I couldn't look at him just then. I had to concentrate on Brent McCallister, who was getting more and more addled from the drink and the pressure.

"Oh, Lord, oh, my Mandy, what am I gonna do?" he moaned, and weeping and then shaking he ordered us into the storage closet off the office. After he locked us in, we could hear him pacing outside the door, swearing and crying, and muttering. My father grabbed my hand, and I grabbed back, holding onto him tightly.

"Alexander, I know I've never heard you lie, but are you telling the truth now? About Blossom, I mean," he whispered.

"It's the truth. We've known for awhile. I think it happened in Chicago. That's why we didn't want a big wedding. I'm sorry you had to find out like this, but I am telling you the gospel truth, and I hope you'll forgive me."

He paused for a moment before answering. "I can't say I don't have any regrets hearing this. If we don't get out of here, you've left Blossom in a terrible fix. I expect your mother will stick to her like a cocklebur, but it's still not going to be easy. Folks will be counting on their fingers and making remarks if you're not there to head them off." I hung my head, but then he sighed, and went on. "I at least hope it was something special for the both of you."

I assured him that it was.

"Then as a man, I have to tell you I'm kind of glad. I'm glad you had that, because I don't like to think of any man leaving this world without leaving something behind, and you've proved yourself a man. There's only once in your life you love that way. If we don't make it, I think it'll be some comfort to Blossom, and for your mother, too."

"Dad, you've got to have hope. I think we'll be all right. McCallister's one mixed-up fellow, but I don't think he's really a killer."

Right after I said that, we heard the explosion.

After that things began to happen quickly. When they heard the gunshot, the sheriff's men stormed in, and found Brent McCallister dead on the floor. He'd put the barrel of the gun in his mouth and blown off the back of his head. They didn't know where my dad and I were at first, but when they called out to us, we started pounding on the storage room door. Before they let us out, they covered McCallister with a tarp they'd found in the office, but when we came stumbling out of the closet, I could see the blood forming a puddle on the floor, and it made me mighty sick.

My dad and I went outside, supporting each other, and two figures separated themselves from the crowd and flung themselves on us. Next thing I knew my mother was hanging around my dad's neck crying, and kissing him, and Blossom was in my arms. I held her tight, and shut my eyes, and just drank in the feel of her.

"Oh, Alexander, oh, Alexander, oh, I was so worried," she babbled, and all I could do was tell her I was all right, and that I loved her, over and over again, but that was fine with Blossom. She couldn't hear it too many times, just like I couldn't say it too many times.

They had an ambulance there, and the ambulance men finally pried us away from our womenfolk long enough to make sure we weren't hurt. When we finally convinced them we didn't need any tending to, they went upstairs with a stretcher to bring out Brent McCallister. I leaned up against the side of the ambulance, and watched them go.

"Alexander," Blossom said worriedly, coming back to my side, "You need to know. I told your mother about you-know-what."

"Good," I said closing my eyes wearily, "because I told my dad."

The reporters had swarmed my dad, who had stepped away from the side of the ambulance, and he was telling them how I had talked Brent McCallister out of shooting us and he said how sorry we were about how things had turned out for the poor man. I didn't want to be any kind of hero and said so. I was not a good subject for an interview.

"I just wasn't going to leave my dad. I couldn't leave my dad," I kept repeating numbly. I knew Lowell would have a good story out of it, but it didn't mean much to me at that point. One of our foremen came up and clapped us both on the shoulder, and offered to drive us home, but my dad felt well enough to take my mother home in his Ford. He offered to bring me and Blossom back to the house with him, so we could all talk together, but I shook my head.

"Dad, Blossom and I need to talk this out ourselves first."

He and my mother looked at each other then looked back at us. "All right, son," he said. "We'll see you when we see you."

As the press photographers were taking pictures of the ambulance men bringing McCallister's body out of the building, Blossom and I slipped off and walked over to the Fairview house with our arms around each other. If I hadn't of had her support, I don't think I could have walked. There was a pot of tea ready when we came in, and we both thanked Minerva for it.

I sat in the parlor, sipping the hot tea. Blossom sat beside me, with her arm around my waist and her head on my shoulder. Gradually I felt better, but I was still shaky on my pins, so Blossom whispered, "Come and lie down."

We went upstairs and I stretched out on the covers fully dressed. Blossom undressed me expertly, tucked me into the bed like a child, and then got undressed herself. She curled up beside me. I kept shaking, and she kept holding onto me.

"It was all wrong, Blossom. It was so wrong. Remember when we were on the Olympic going to England, and we talked about the war coming? You told me even the dead wouldn't know why wars are fought. Do you think Brent's with his son now, and they know why?"

"I don't know, Alexander, but I hope the pore man's found some peace at last. I don't know why he did what he did, but I thank God he didn't hurt you or your dad."

I closed my eyes. "I tried to tell him I understood. I did understand. If I lost my folks, and you and the baby, I'd probably crawl into a bottle, too. I'd have nothing to live for, either."

"Oh," Blossom said softly, "I think you'd be stronger than that. You know better than most folks that death is just another step along the way. Besides that," she said with a slight smile. "I'd more than likely have to come and haunt you so Nola Nirider would stay away from you."

I choked with laughter, and then realized I was getting hysterical. "Don't say things like that, Blossom. It isn't fitting."

I fell asleep in her arms, with her holding me like I was a baby. I dreamed that I saw her sitting beside me, smiling lovingly. I was holding our child. Our baby was wearing a gown trimmed in tatted lace. I just wished I could have seen the small face. We were together, and we were happy. I woke up in the morning, with Blossom's head on my chest, and her hair tumbling all around. I thought she was beautiful, and woke her up with a kiss that turned into a whole lot more.

Minerva had apparently taken the morning off, but Blossom and I had toast and coffee together before I went back to the office. My dad was directing clean-up operations, looking almost normal, when I arrived. I sidled up to him sheepishly. "Dad, I'm sorry I didn't come over last night to explain everything better. It was just…"

"Alexander," He interrupted smoothly, "You don't have to say another thing. I kind of needed some time alone with your mother, too."

As neither of us wanted or needed any more information than that, I just pitched into the work and we let it go. We had more people coming around wanting interviews over the next few days, which took up a lot of time. When it turned out that Brent McCallister's body was unclaimed by any kin, and he was about to be buried a pauper in Potters field, my dad paid for him to be quietly, and without fanfare, buried in the plot next to his wife. We ordered a headstone that matched hers and arranged for it to be placed.

After we got the bill for the grave marker, Dad and I drove out to see it. The red granite stone that said "Brent William McCallister, 1878 – 1918" on it was a perfect match to the stone next to it that said "Amanda Rafferty McCallister, 1880 – 1899" across the front of it.

"I wish their son could be here with them. Who knows where he is now? There's no one to tell us where he's lying," I said, feeling mighty miserable. "And look at that! She was just nineteen," I said, pointing at Mandy McCallister's stone. "She died at nineteen, trying to bring a new life into this world. It just doesn't seem right. How can people die that young?"

Blossom would only be eighteen when our baby was born, and that fact scared me all of a sudden.

My dad seemed to understand. "Alexander, I knew Mandy Rafferty. She was a sickly girl to start with, and she started working in the flour mill when she was just thirteen. The mill girls worked long hours for little pay in poor conditions. Those girls didn't have any education, and they didn't have enough to eat. They got sick and run down, and they didn't have doctors to care for them or their babies if things went wrong. They only had midwives, and some of them were good, but some of them were ignorant. I like to think we're getting past that now. I like to think we've made progress. I want to live to see the day when we don't have any more Brent or Mandy McCallisters, and I hope we eventually see the day when we don't have any more wars, either. This is supposed to be the war to end wars. I think that might be too much to hope for, but I still do have hope."

We rode back to the office in silence, but we didn't need to talk. There wasn't anything to say.

The excitement finally died down about McCallister taking us hostage in the office. It seemed to actually bring us more business, though. It was amazing how many people who just wanted to see us decided they needed new bathrooms, or new porches to do it. We had people coming from miles around to get into the Armsworth and Son office. My dad was still handling most of the office work, but I was starting to learn more about how to schedule crews, how he hired people and paid them, and more about supplies and suppliers.

Mike Paulson was passing through and stopped by the office to see us, and we convinced him to stay overnight at my dad's house and then we plans for everyone to have lunch with me and Blossom the next day. When he took Mike home to meet my mother, Dad must have explained about me and Blossom, because when she and I showed up for dinner that night, he didn't look shocked by the fact that she was starting to show. He just congratulated us and ate my mother's pot roast, potatoes and green beans with bacon like a trouper.

Blossom went into the kitchen when we got home and begged Minerva to help with the luncheon, and she came up with a wonderful spread. Mike enjoyed his visit so much that he promised to bring his wife and kids to see us in the spring. He admired Lucille's boys and thought his kids would get along with them like a house afire. He allowed that his wife would be delighted to see them and our new baby when it came.

"She doesn't want another one, "but she does love handling everyone else's."

We still couldn't figure out how Minerva did it, but we were really happy that she could pull together a meal out of the air when something came up. Blossom was a pretty fair cook herself, so we didn't push Minerva to cook too much, but in an emergency she was happy to help out.

The rest of the summer passed quickly, although the heat got to Blossom a bit and she stayed home a lot when it was hot. The old house was built so solid that it stayed pretty cool. The fall went by fairly quickly, too. By Christmas Blossom was so big she looked like she was about to pop, but the midwife in town, who Blossom had been seeing regularly said she had another month to go.

"Good way to start the New Year," Blossom said, on the way home from my parent's house after Christmas dinner. She was holding a whole pile of baby clothes that my parents and Lucille had wrapped up and put under the tree for "Baby Armsworth". I'd given her a necklace on a silver chain. It was a oval moonstone that shimmered like a rainbow and all around the edge of the moonstone in a small silver frame there were marquise-cut amethysts since that was her birthstone. It hung on a silver chain and she liked it a whole lot.

Armsworth and Son Construction was going great guns with remodeling jobs. Going into remodeling had done what my dad wanted it to do. It kept us busy all year round. The baby was due any day, and my father was looking for a boy, to pass the things on to, but I wasn't that concerned about it. Whatever I got was still fine with me. When we had discussed our plans at Christmas time, my mother had offered to lend us Gladys for a few days after the baby came, to help us get settled in, but I told her we'd be fine. I had no idea of what Gladys would do if she ever saw Minerva.

Minerva woke me up the second Sunday in January banging pots in the kitchen. Blossom was sleeping fitfully. It was hard for her to get any rest with all that weight pushing her down into the mattress, and I was annoyed with Minerva, afraid she'd wake Blossom up. When I went down there to see what Minerva was up to, she was boiling pots of water.

"What are you up to, Minerva?" I asked. "Are you planning the world's biggest tea party?"

She looked at me scornfully, and I heard Blossom calling to me from the bedroom. When I got up there, she was sitting up in bed, and her face was all sweaty. "I think something is happening," she whispered. "I feel awful"

"Should I go get the midwife or a doctor?" I asked anxiously.

"No, it's probably too soon, but I think it will be today."

"Minerva's already downstairs boiling water. Would you like a cup of tea?" I asked, wondering how Minerva had known.

"Yes, please," Blossom said, closing her eyes and wincing. "What time is it?"

I told her and went to get her a cup of tea. Minerva gave me a triumphant look when I came into the kitchen, which I ignored. I took the tea up and Blossom seemed grateful to have it, but she asked me again when I came through the door what time it was.

Lowell and Lucille stopped by just about midmorning. Blossom had finished the tea and we had been trying to talk about what we thought the baby would be and what it might look like. I told her flat out I didn't care what it was as long as it was all right and she was all right, and I didn't care what it looked like as long as everything was in the right place. Blossom seemed to appreciate that. She was real restless, though, and I was worried. I was heading down the stairs with the empty tea cup when they knocked on the door. I was so glad to see them.

I told them I thought the baby was on the way, and Lowell also offered to go get the midwife or a doctor.

"Go get my mother, instead, if you will," I told him, "and stop by the midwife's house and tell her it looks like today is the day. Blossom doesn't want a doctor unless it looks like it's going wrong. She thinks babies are women's work."

"Has she gotten anything ready?" Lucille asked practically when he was gone.

"There's water on in the kitchen and she's gotten together a lot of blankets and clothes," I offered. She nodded and nipped up to see Blossom, who asked her what time it is.

"Why? Have you got a date?" Lucille asked cheerfully. Blossom smiled, and then moaned. "Alexander says there's already water boiling in the kitchen. Do you have any old towels ready?"

"There's a whole pile of them in that box in the corner," Blossom said. "The cradle is in the extra bedroom."

"Alexander, go get it," Lucille said, "Make sure there are blankets in it, and go downstairs and put some plates on the stove to heat. When they're warm, get some pot holders, bring them up, put them in the blankets, and put more on the stove. The hot plates will keep the blankets warm for the baby. You would have a baby in January when it's as cold as Christmas."

"Well, it's not like we'd be gallivanting about with a new baby on our hands," I pointed out. After I got the cradle and put it at the foot of the bed where it would be handy but out of the way, I went down to the kitchen and had a stern talk with Minerva. I told her how much we appreciated her help but that if anyone else decided to take a stroll into the kitchen she was to stay out of sight.

"Not everyone appreciates you as much as we do," I said, and then I heard the front door open so I nipped out of the kitchen right quick. As I passed the table next to the divan I saw it had a tray of cookies, sandwiches, and a tea set on it. Minerva was really a wonder. I knew I could trust her.

Lowell was back with my parents and told us the midwife would be over directly. When they had told her, she had allowed that it was supposed to snow and she wanted to get over to the house before it did. She didn't have anyone else do, so she thought hanging around our place would be just as easy as not. So they expected her shortly. My mother and Lucille headed up to see Blossom. I collapsed on the divan.

"I hope everything will be all right," I managed to say.

"Should be," my dad said, and then glanced at the loaded trays. "Alexander, did Blossom set this all up or did you? It's not your style but I'd like to think you had the sense not to let her be puttering in the kitchen on a day like today."

"A neighbor did that, but she had to skin out," I said hastily. I looked at Lowell. "Where are the boys?"

"Gladys has them. She wanted to come over here, but I knew the midwife would get her directly and I thought four women up there fussing over Blossom would get on her nerves," Dad said, helping himself to a sandwich.

"Probably would have, " Lowell acknowledged, taking one for himself.


	13. Chapter 13

Blossom and the End of the Tale

When Alexander left the room, Lucille looked at me with true sisterly concern. "How do you really feel?"

"It hurts when they come and when they go it ain't no relief because I swear I'm so scared I feel like I could vomit," I admitted, as she stepped over and opened the curtains to let more light into the room.

The afternoon sun came shining through the window, and the patterns that the shadows were making on the wall calmed me down. It reminded me of the first time Alexander and I had made love in this room, and I suddenly had a lot more faith. Alexander loved me and his mother and sister loved me and I believed with all of my heart that they were not going to let anything happen to me.

"Oh, you'll probably vomit at some point," Lucille said cheerfully. Her mother gave her an exasperated look.

"I hope not," I retorted, trying to screw my face up into a look of determination, but I was sweating and about to cry from a shooting pain inside.

"Do want me to do anything for you before the midwife comes?" Lucille asked.

"I want you to do this for me!" I suggested and she shook her head.

"Done it twice already and I'm not eager to do it again anytime soon," Lucille answered nonchalantly.

"Lucille," Mrs. Armsworth said with as much dignity as she could muster, "it's not ladylike to talk about such things."

"We all know about them. Why can't we talk about them?" Lucille asked.

"This is not the time," Mrs. Armsworth said, and Lucille snorted.

"Then when do you think the time would be?" Her mother ignored that comment.

"Besides," Mrs. Armsworth said, "Don't you think Lowell would like a little girl sometime? Don't you want the boys to have a little sister? Think how much fun that would be!"

"Lowell never cared about what they were and you can't promise me a girl if I do have another, so it's not worth talking about right now," Lucille said firmly.

"Alexander says he doesn't care, either," I acknowledged.

"Well, that's all well and good but at some point I know my husband would like a boy to carry on the family name," Mrs. Armsworth said.

"Let's see how this goes," I told her.

While the two of them bickered a bit about Lucille's frank talk, I thought for awhile about all the things Alexander and I had talked about that weren't always considered prim and proper. I thought about all the things I'd done, with him and in general, that were not considered ladylike. I didn't regret them, though. I certainly didn't regret any part of the time I'd spent with Alexander. I thought about Inez and Uncle Miles and my Ma, and hoped they were rooting for me to get through all this all right.

I thought about all the folks I'd met in New Orleans, and in England, and even in Chicago. I knew plenty of people in Bluff City would have given their eye teeth to be as well traveled as Alexander and me were. I suddenly thought about how I'd acted when I met the Queen, and I wanted to laugh, but a contraction rattled me. In spite of it, I decided right there and then that if the baby and I made it through okay, that we'd be the sort that went on trips. I wanted to show that baby the world and wanted him or her to know that while Bluff City was home, there was a lot more world out there to see.

The pains started picking up. I wasn't getting as much of a break in between them so I thought it must be getting closer to the big moment.

I was twisting the top of the sheet between my hands, and Mrs. Armsworth saw me. She asked me if I had any old sheets, got one and twisting it into a rope, tied it to the bedpost. "If it gets bad just pull on that knot. It'll keep you busy."

For awhile I fought against the pains but as they kept getting stronger I just couldn't. I tried to breathe deep, make my mind go blank and just ride them out. When the midwife came I was certainly glad to see her. As she came bustling in I asked where Alexander was and how he was doing. I was worried about him, because I knew durned well that he was probably worried sick about me. I hoped Minerva wasn't getting worried. This was not the time for poor Alexander to try to explain her to his father and brother-in-law.

"He's downstairs with everyone else just waiting. He's fine. Mr. Seaforth has a flask. If Alexander gets too nervous, he's going to give him a nip. I just had one myself. That's mighty fine brandy, if I do say so. I must say, Blossom, you married into a family that knows how to do things in style."

She then asked for help and Mrs. Armsworth and Lucille lifted me up so she could arrange the bed. I was totally mortified as the midwife slid my nightgown up to my waist and started piling old towels under me, but I knew it had to be done.

The pains gripped me until every muscle in my body seemed to ache from the strain. The midwife had complimented Alexander's mother on how she'd set the sheet up into a rope and I wanted to, as well, but I was too busy. I started pulling on it with all of my might when the pains came and tried to relax when they went away, but at this stage there definitely wasn't that much time in between them for me to really get any rest. I whimpered every time I got a chance to catch my breath. I wanted to scream but I knew if they heard me downstairs Alexander would be like to go into a complete panic and faint, so I tried not to.

The midwife looked after a particularly bad one, and shook her head. "Soon but not yet, she said to Mrs. Armsworth and Lucille.

"I'm just so worried! They're just so young. I wish they'd waited!" Mrs. Armsworth said, starting to pace back and forth across the room.

"Mother, this is no time to get upset!" Lucille said, blocking her before she got too worked up.

"Then when is a good time, I'd like to know!" Mrs. Armsworth snapped, turning Lucille's earlier comment back onto her.

Lucille just shook her head and said, "I'll go get the hot water," practically, and when she left the room, Mrs. Armsworth spoke anxiously to the midwife.

"It's not too much blood?"

That startled me. If I was bleeding, I hadn't even felt it.

"I don't think so," she said. "I've seen worse."

That wasn't very encouraging, but it was better than a stick in the eye.

She and Alexander's mother wrangled some more towels under me. Good thing, too, because my water broke just then and that is when the real pain started. If I'd thought it had been bad before, this was a hundred times worse. It got worse and worse until it peaked, then dropped off. I could feel it going up and coming back down. Having a pain once an hour or even when it had gotten down to once every 15 minutes or so had been tolerable. I'd truly been able to tolerate it. But now the fact that just as soon as I got through one contraction another started coming really started to wear me down and I began to moan, suck in some breath, and moan again.

"Catch your breath when you can, and just go along with 'em," the midwife advised me.

"I'm trying to do just that but I feel like someone's wringing me out like a wet mop!" I snarled at her.

Alexander's mother was starting to get as pale as I was. "If we need to get a doctor, we will," Mrs. Armsworth whispered. "Don't worry about the expense. I'll take care of it."

"If I thought the baby was going to need one I'd get him," the midwife replied, "but I don't see nothing unusual at all. She's a small girl and I think it's going to be a big baby, but they both seem strong. She's as feisty as her mother and she's been hard done by at times because of it but at a time like this that's a good thing. We should know soon because she's going pretty quickly. Remember Letty, the Shambaugh's daughter? I swear it took her almost two days to get this far, poor thing. I should be able to see the top of the head soon."

I didn't like them talking about me as if I weren't there and wasn't of no account at all and Letty was the last person I wanted to be thinking about at that moment, but before I could say anything a ferocious pain gripped me and I did stop moaning and cried out a little, in spite of myself. I heard Lucille come in with the water, and the midwife told her where to put it, and then told me it was almost time to push.

The idea of pushing out that baby had terrified me. It reminded me of the time I'd gotten jammed up in the fire escape and Alexander had purt near knocked me in the head. I half expected to feel a foot through my belly button at any moment, but to my great surprise I found that when the midwife said I needed to push, I had to push. I couldn't have stopped it for anything, and pushing turned out to be a relief. I grit my teeth and did what I was told.

Lucille came up by my head and took one of my hands in hers, and I held it tight, but I kept hold of the twisted sheet with the other hand. Poor Lucille would soon regret being so nice to me because I'm sure I came close to breaking a few fingers.

At first the pains had been all across my belly, tightening across my belly as they came and went. Now it was almost all in my lower back. Every time a pain would start, my lower back would just seize up. The muscles inside me were twisting harder and harder with each pain until it became almost unbearable and I was fighting not to scream, and then it would slowly subside for a few moments. It was just as painful as I had imagined it would be when my imagination had gone into the worst possible places. I truly felt like a mop that was getting wrung out. That made me think of water and water reminded me of the ocean waves when we'd sailed to England. As my insides twisted, pulled, and squeezed it made me think of what it might be like to be caught in the undertow of a wave.

I thought about those poor people on the Eastland and the Titanic…what it must have been like for one of them to be trapped underwater and not be able fight it and all the time a body's getting more and more scared. They'd hate to fight for their lives and a lot of them lost. But if I even thought about fighting it the pain absolutely became worse.

I'm stubborn to a fault and the midwife had gotten my dander up talking about Mama. I hate to give in but I had to admit once I let those feelings go and surrendered to and accepted the pain again, it was more bearable. My head didn't know what to do but my body seemed to. I got sort of dreamy and just thought about that trip on the ocean, about Miss Dabney and Mr. Birdsall, and about how happy Alexander had been roaming around the ship, making friends with everyone and that distracted me a little bit.

The pushing was almost like being constipated and I was good at that kind of pushing, because the last few weeks I'd been pretty plugged up, probably from the darned baby all but sitting and pressing down that part of my insides. The midwife yelled at me to push harder, and I did and that's when I felt a terrible burning sensation.

The midwife crowed with excitement. She'd seen a patch of the baby's hair, and then I pushed again, and again, and the head came out. The head was the hard part. The body was easier. Once the head was out though, the baby started breathing on its own and crying and I was struck dumb with amazement. I caught another wave and this one lifted me up and let the baby's body slither out.

The midwife caught the baby in a cloth, and crowed again, "That a girl! No tears! Not a single bit of a rip. You're going to heal fast!"

"What is it?" I asked anxiously. "Alexander says he don't care but I'm not sure if he means it. Please, please, what is it and does it look all right?"

"It's a girl, a perfectly healthy girl. She was crying afore she left the hatch and I don't expect her to have any problems at all. She looks fine and she'll look better once we get the rest of what we have to do done and her cleaned up. If Alexander don't like it he can go hang. You did a fine job of this, Blossom. A fine, fine job. Give me a minute to cut and tie the cord and then you can hold her."

Mrs. Armsworth and Lucille set to whooping and hollering and hugging each other. I knew they both loved Lucille's boys to death. They were fine little boys but a girl was going to be a nice change for them, even though Mrs. Armsworth had been hoping for a boy to carry on the Armsworth name. The midwife set the baby, wrapped in a cloth onto my chest. Her head was a bit blood streaked, but it was nice and round and even, her skin a healthy pink, and I was enthralled, but then I felt something strange. Mrs. Armsworth was hanging over me and I cried out.

"Take her, take her…something is wrong!"

Mrs. Armsworth looked startled, but took her granddaughter gently but firmly and began to cuddle and rock her in her arms. "Blossom, what?"

"Ain't nothing wrong, Honey. It's just the other end of the cord coming out," said the midwife, taking a look.

The midwife got busy then and I felt something else come along, but it didn't seem as painful, or maybe I just had a different idea of what pain was now. I couldn't see what the midwife was doing, but I didn't really want to. I wanted to see my daughter again, and I wanted Alexander to see her. I wondered what he and Mr. Armsworth and Lowell would think of her.

"Oh, Blossom, she's lovely," Lucille said, hanging over her mother's arm to look at her new niece. "Her eyes are almost midnight blue, but I know most babies are born with blue eyes. Sometimes they change later on. I wonder what color her eyes will be once she gets a bit bigger."

"They'll be as blue as Alexander's. Mark my words," I said, suddenly remembering what Ma had said about her blue-eyed baby girl and not being able to stick around to see her. She must have known and as I thought about it, I got all choked up and tears began to run down my face. I hadn't missed Ma in a long time. I'd been busy with my new life and tried to put her out of my mind because thinking of her old life and how it had been cut short hurt so much, but now I really wished she could have been there. I wonder how she'd known. She'd been a very talented woman and no mistake.

"Now, Blossom, like Lucille said, most babies are born with blue eyes, but it's true that sometimes they…" Mrs. Armsworth saw me crying and thought she was upsetting me, so she added hastily, "but if she looks like Alexander, I'll be thrilled."

"Her hair is dark, though," Lucille pointed out.

The midwife asked Lucille to help her clean the baby up, and once that was done Mrs. Armsworth and Lucille took turns holding her while the midwife cleaned me and the bed up.

When Alexander finally got to see her, she and I were both immaculate and all the messy cloths and towels had been taken down the back stairs to be burned. Having had enough practice with his nephews, he right away plunked down in a chair next to the bed and took the baby on his lap, grinning as he admired her dark blue eyes and strong, sturdy little body. He was tickled by her tiny hands, fingers and even the miniscule fingernails.

"You sure you aren't sorry it's a girl?" I asked him.

"Hell, no," Alexander said firmly. "She's so strong and healthy! The best gift possible…remember? Besides, boys aren't any use. Haven't you been telling me that for years and years?"

We didn't really want another Luella, so we asked Alexander's mother if it would be all right if we just named the baby Ella. That was fine with her. We also wanted to honor the person who'd brought us together in the first place, so our daughter became Ella Inez Armsworth. Alexander's mother really didn't like that, I could tell, but she didn't say nothing and just sighed. I'd thought of naming her after Mama, but Lavinia was such an old fashioned name. Wherever she was, I knowed Mama would understand.

Alexander's father and sister were a bit put aback by that name as well, but as we were all at the Armsworth house one day planning the Christening party Mrs. Armsworth's cousin Elvera, who had come over to claim the job of pouring the punch as usual, pointed out, "It's their baby to name. You had your chance with Alexander and Lucille, Joe, and you had your choice with your own, Lucille."

The baby was good and hardly ever cried. She took to nursing right away and I enjoyed feeding her. It was my time with her and the idea that she needed me made me very happy. I just loved her to pieces. I had never expected the feeling to be as strong as it was.

Her eyes did stay blue, and got just as blue as her Daddy's the way my mama said they would, and he really was a good dad. Mrs. Armsworth brought her box camera over almost every other day and took lots of pictures,

Alexander kept an envelope of them at the office and showed them to everyone that came in. Most people were very kind about the whole thing, although I'm sure there were Bluff City residents counting on their fingers. The Armsworths were so thrilled with Ella that no one would have said anything to them directly, not even the snootiest of the women.

I had a rocking chair to rock the baby in while I fed her, and on impulse, for luck, I draped my ma's old fortune telling shawl on the back of it. My daughter was fascinated by that shawl and I couldn't figure out why. She stared at it anytime she could see even a bit of it, and once she got a little bigger and stronger she was constantly trying to grab it. I thought perhaps it was the fringe that was attracting her but I found out different one evening when I decided to let her go ahead and play with the old thing if it made her that happy.

I spread it out on the floor one night before supper and let her lie on it. While the food was warming in the oven, Alexander was sitting and reading the news paper while I was tatting, when I looked up and saw Ella cuddled up in the shawl. She was patting it with one small hand and cooing just as sweet as could be.

"Alexander, I wish to goodness I knew why Ella is so attracted to that shawl. It's almost like she's talking to it."

Then I heard it, a voice in my head, clear as a bell. It wasn't an angel and it wasn't a demon. It was Ma's voice clear as a bell. "Shoot, Honey. Don't ya'll know? Because it's mine is why. I got to hold her long before you two ever did."

Stunned, I looked up at Alexander, and he was looking back at me just as flabbergasted. But then, that made a whole lot of sense to me. Like I told you all at first, Alexander and I are both sensitive to the other side, and good at getting ghosts settled into peaceful graves. Aside from Minerva, that is. I looked up as I heard the pots banging in the kitchen. It was almost time for supper.


End file.
